Overview
- The Public Prosecution Service (OM) said Thursday that drivers who take tractors onto motorways and people who cover licence plates can be criminally prosecuted or fined.
- The clarification follows an evaluation with police and the municipality of Den Bosch after a fatal collision on the A59 that was linked to slow-moving tractor traffic.
- Agricultural vehicles are already banned from motorways under traffic law but may be tolerated in limited cases when a protest is formally registered and a mayor has not prohibited it.
- The OM framed its statement as a reaffirmation, not a new law, and urged more national consistency because local police and some mayors have handled protests differently.
- Officials in regions such as Friesland, Drenthe and Twente have already said they will no longer tolerate tractors on motorways, a change that could raise the number of prosecutions and fines in coming weeks.