The police are doing everything they can to fine the farmers who drove their tractors on the A28 between Fluitenberg and Zwolle on Thursday morning. “We did our best to get them off the highway.”
A column of about twenty tractors chugged from the north on Thursday morning to The Hague, where a farmers’ protest has been organized by the Farmers Defense Force (FDF).
It is not allowed to drive a tractor on the highway. Still, the farmers drove on the A28, just like with previous protests. Several farmers ignored the signal from the police to leave the highway with their tractors. On the A28 between Fluitenberg and De Lichtmis, the police tried several times to get the tractor parade to take an exit.
‘Most tractors drove on’
“Some tractors did that, the rest drove on. They will be fined,” says police spokeswoman Tessel Horsman. According to her, it is “very complex” to force the huge agricultural vehicles to stop. “But we did our best. It is our intention that the directors will be fined.”
The fine for driving on the highway with a tractor is 420 euros.
Photos show that the tractor procession was preceded by a police car. A police car also drove behind the column. “It could be assumed that we accompanied the tractors to The Hague, but that is certainly not the case,” explains Horsman.
Photographs were taken of most tractors and, if present, the license plates were noted. “We took the photos so that we can investigate afterwards and hopefully find vehicles without license plates.”
Small procession
The hikers’ procession from the north towards The Hague was much smaller than previous times. Road restaurant De Raket in Rogat was also one of the gathering places on Thursday morning, but the harvest there was limited to one tractor and a few demonstrating sympathizers. They later joined the hikers’ procession that drove from Fluitenberg towards Zwolle.