{"id":5899,"date":"2018-12-31T20:31:41","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T20:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=5899"},"modified":"2018-12-31T20:31:41","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T20:31:41","slug":"vuurwerk-should-it-be-restricted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/vuurwerk-should-it-be-restricted\/","title":{"rendered":"Vuurwerk: Should it be restricted?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oudejaarsavond<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(New Year’s Eve) and\u00a0vuurwerk<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(fireworks) are inseparable in the Netherlands. No\u00a0jaarwisseling\u00a0<\/em>(turn of the year) without the loud\u00a0knallen\u00a0<\/em>(bangs) and\u00a0bright\u00a0kleuren <\/em>(colors) of the\u00a0vuurpijlen\u00a0<\/em>(rockets) and\u00a0rotjes\u00a0<\/em>(firecrackers)! However, this\u00a0vuurwerk\u00a0<\/em>also has a dark side. Every year, there are hundreds of accidents with these dangerous producten\u00a0<\/em>(products) that lead to ernstige<\/em> letsels\u00a0<\/em>(serious injuries), from losing fingers to losing eyesight. Should, perhaps,\u00a0vuurwerk\u00a0<\/em>be forbidden? Or is there a better solution?<\/p>\n

De Traditie<\/em><\/h2>\n
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Shot from the Vuurwerk Zomerfeesten<\/em> in Nijmegen (Image by Ruben Nijveld at Flickr.com under license CC BY 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

De traditie<\/em>\u00a0(the tradition) to use vuurwerk\u00a0<\/em>during the\u00a0jaarwisseling\u00a0<\/em>comes from the belief that the geluid\u00a0<\/em>(noise) and\u00a0flitsen\u00a0<\/em>(flashes) would verjagen\u00a0<\/i>(chase away) the\u00a0boze geesten\u00a0<\/em>(evil spirits) who could bring\u00a0ellende\u00a0<\/em>(misery) to the next year. So the more\u00a0geluid\u00a0<\/em>and geflits<\/em>, the better!<\/p>\n

However, that\u00a0bijgeloof\u00a0<\/em>(superstition) is long gone. Nowadays, people just buy\u00a0vuurwerk\u00a0<\/em>for the fun, the beauty and the traditional,\u00a0gezellige\u00a0<\/em>value that people find in it.V<\/p>\n

Only Public Vuurwerk?<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Vuurwerkafval<\/em> (fireworks waste) in Groningen (Image by Jos @ FPS-Groningen at Flickr.com under license CC BY 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

Vuurwerk<\/em> always leads to a lot of\u00a0ellende<\/em>. Even though\u00a0vuurwerk\u00a0<\/em>is only allowed to be sold in the last days before the\u00a0jaarwisseling<\/em>, and it is only allowed to be fired in a restricted time frame, there is still a lot of misuse. For example, in several places, including Utrecht,\u00a0hulpverleners\u00a0<\/em>(relief workers) were\u00a0bekogeld\u00a0<\/em>(bombarded) with\u00a0vuurwerk\u00a0<\/em>when doing their work. Every year, there are hundreds of incidents with\u00a0vuurwerk<\/em>.<\/p>\n

From 2015 to 2016, the number of incidents went down, but probably only because the time frame in which the\u00a0vuurwerk<\/em> was allowed to be fired was limited. So the question arises – can this number be brought down even further if only public\u00a0vuurwerk\u00a0<\/em>is allowed, and private use is completely prohibited?<\/p>\n

In parliament, there are\u00a0voorstanders\u00a0<\/em>(supporters) and\u00a0tegenstanders\u00a0<\/em>(objectors) to the idea. The\u00a0voorstanders\u00a0<\/em>give the\u00a0slachtoffers\u00a0<\/em>(victims),\u00a0schade\u00a0<\/em>(damage) and\u00a0overlast\u00a0<\/em>(trouble) as reasons. The\u00a0tegenstanders\u00a0<\/em>think it goes against the\u00a0vrijheid van het individu\u00a0<\/em>(freedom of the individual). While many people are in favor of a verbod\u00a0<\/em>(prohibition), it still\u00a0is a\u00a0gevoelig\u00a0<\/em>(sensitive) topic, because many people attach a lot of value to the\u00a0traditie.<\/em><\/p>\n

A compromise for now are\u00a0vuurwerkvrije zones\u00a0<\/em>(fireworks-free zones), which a few dozen\u00a0gemeentes\u00a0<\/em>(municipalities) have implemented in the past few years. However, these do not always seem effective.<\/p>\n

The ideal could be only\u00a0openbaar vuurwerk\u00a0<\/em>(public fireworks), organised by the municipality and ignited by professionals. The scale could be bigger and the spectacle could be even more beautiful, and the chance of accidents could be minimized.<\/p>\n

There is still illegal\u00a0vuurwerk<\/em>, of course. The question could also be posed what would happen with the illegal market if currently legal\u00a0vuurwerk<\/em> is also made illegal. Would the problem only get worse because of unsafe\u00a0vuurwerk<\/em>?<\/p>\n

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For now,\u00a0I wish you a\u00a0gelukkig nieuwjaar\u00a0<\/em>and please be safe! I will see you all next year again!<\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Oudejaarsavond\u00a0(New Year’s Eve) and\u00a0vuurwerk\u00a0(fireworks) are inseparable in the Netherlands. No\u00a0jaarwisseling\u00a0(turn of the year) without the loud\u00a0knallen\u00a0(bangs) and\u00a0bright\u00a0kleuren (colors) of the\u00a0vuurpijlen\u00a0(rockets) and\u00a0rotjes\u00a0(firecrackers)! However, this\u00a0vuurwerk\u00a0also has a dark side. Every year, there are hundreds of accidents with these dangerous producten\u00a0(products) that lead to ernstige letsels\u00a0(serious injuries), from losing fingers to losing eyesight. Should, perhaps,\u00a0vuurwerk\u00a0be forbidden? Or is…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":5903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[60713,3590,27711],"tags":[3608,358810,506171],"class_list":["post-5899","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-2","category-dutch-language","category-dutch-vocabulary-2","tag-dutch","tag-nye","tag-vuurwerk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t