page_title: Fireworks policy in the Netherlands
section_title: Injury, damage and nuisance
hierarchical_section_title: Fireworks policy in the Netherlands / Regulation and enforcement / Injury, damage and nuisance
caption_attribution_description: English: Dutch letterbox with reduced insertion slit to prevent firecrackers being thrown in. A standard procedure to prevent vandalism during the second half of December.
context_page_description: Fireworks in the Netherlands are mostly regulated by the Vuurwerkbesluit, a 1993 law that has subsequently been amended many times to make the rules surrounding the production, testing, transportation, storage, trade, sale, consumption and overall safety of fireworks stricter. During most of the year, most fireworks are restricted to usage by professionals, but there is an exception for ordinary citizens without any special training or licence to ignite fireworks during New Year's Eve from 6 pm on 31 December to 2 am on 1 January. Especially since the 2000 Enschede fireworks disaster, and more so since the accident-laden New Year's Eve of 2007/08, public discussion on more rigorous regulation or even prohibition on fireworks has been frequent and ongoing.
context_section_description: Fireworks in the Netherlands are known to cause various negative effects to users, bystanders and people living nearby, especially around New Year's Eve, when extra police, firefighters and paramedics are deployed to control the situation. Which measures do and do not work, and how matters may be improved without 'ruining the party', is subject to ongoing discussion. The negative effects of fireworks can be divided into:
  Noise pollution because of unexpectedly loud explosions (especially troublesome for animals)
  Air pollution because of the smoke created by fireworks (in 2008, smog by fireworks smoke caused dozens of traffic accidents, killing two people)
  Injuries and fear of being hit by fireworks (either by accident or on purpose; during New Year's Eve 2016/17, 61% of victims were bystanders, 39% were the igniters themselves)
  Vandalism and accidents by (illegal) fireworks causing damage and destruction to infrastructure and property
  Disruption of public order by, amongst other things, violence against public servants (police, firefighters and paramedics) using fireworks
caption: A mailbox made hufterproof ("asshole-proof") to prevent vandals from inserting fireworks.
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