In the weeks after the Stint incident, there was a feeling at hastily set up memorial sites in the Brabant city of Oss: this was a rare tragic accident, reported NRC in the autumn of 2018. Ossenaar Henny Reuvers said about parents’ fear of losing their child: “That has now come true.”
A criminal case against two companies held responsible for the production and sale of the Stint will start in the court in Den Bosch on Tuesday. This electric cart can be used to transport children to and from out-of-school care, among other things.
On September 20, 2018, a driver of a Stint was found unable to brake for a closed level crossing barrier at a railway crossing in Oss. A train hit the Stint. Four children died, they were between four and eight years old and all attended the same primary school. A fifth child and the 32-year-old attendant of the cart were seriously injured.
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1What is this case about?
After the accident, the Public Prosecution Service received “several reports” of previous incidents with Stints. In 2023 decided the Public Prosecution Service to prosecute the directors of Stintum BV and parent company Stintum Holding BV. They are said to have supplied a “harmful product”.
One of the suspects is the inventor of the Stint, Edwin Renzen. “Although suspects were aware of various defects, insufficient action was taken and the Stint continued to be used at many daycare centers with those defects, with all the associated risks,” the Public Prosecution Service stated.
Although suspects knew of defects, the Public Prosecution Service states, insufficient action was taken and the Stint continued to be used at many daycare centers
The directors are also accused of forgery. The Stint was allowed on the road in 2012. In a request to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, according to the Public Prosecution Service, it was “incorrectly reported that the Stint met the necessary safety requirements.” Shortly after the accident, the companies reportedly removed references to certain safety guidelines from the Stint manual before sending that document to the ministry and the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT).
In addition to the ILT, the Labor Inspectorate, the Dutch Forensic Institute and research institution TNO also examined the safety of Stints. The brake construction and throttle lever were defective and presence detection, start-up protection and brake switch were also missing, investigations showed.
About the TNO report concluded NRC: all in all, it reads like an instruction manual for the manufacturer of the Stint, who can use it to build a safe vehicle.
2Why is the case only now coming to court?
Initially, the investigation focused on the cause of the accident in Oss. After more reports of incidents involving Stints were made, the judiciary focused on the producer. By calling in experts and including reports from various agencies, the file became, in the words of the Public Prosecution Service, “extensive”.
At the request of the defense, the examining magistrate has already heard witnesses in the past two years. The substantive hearing would continue in March and April 2025. A month before the first day of the hearing, reported the Public Prosecution Service that it was “no longer seen as realistic” to hear the case on the planned dates. This had to do with four new technical research reports requested by the defending party. The Public Prosecution Service wanted to submit its contents to experts.
Stint entrepreneur Renzen speaks in The Telegraph about “seven years of innuendo.” “We have followed the rules. We are going to the case to answer questions from the judge based on the file.”
3Why are the electric carts running again?
Shortly after the accident, then minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (VVD, Infrastructure and Water Management) removed the electric carts from the road. However, in that decision she should have taken into account that the technical inspection of the Stint by the ministry in 2011 was “completely substandard.” [was] “, as the Council of State concluded in 2021. The ministry had to pay compensation to the manufacturer and Stint users.
The cart has now returned to the streets. The vehicle was re-authorized in 2020, albeit with some adjustments. The Stint is now called a ‘BSO bus’. “There are now almost as many driving around in the Netherlands as before September 2018, more than 2,750,” say Running against the Gelderlander.
The case will be heard in six days. December 17 is the last day of the hearing. The ruling is expected next year.
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