New Year's fireworks: Dutch Safety Board calls for ban on bangers and rockets

The government should ban bangers and rockets, the Dutch Safety Board said in a report on New Year's fireworks that will be published later today, RTL Nieuws reports. According to the board, the risks involved in New Year's celebrations are unacceptably high.

The Safety Board looked into the New Year's celebrations at the request of the Netherlands' four largest municipalities - Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, and The Hague. They asked for this investigation because of the large number of incidents that happen every New Year's. The Safety Board concluded that New Year's is the most dangerous time of the year in the Netherlands, with fireworks in particular being a problem.

According to the Safety Board, there are around 10 thousand incidents every New Year's, ranging from assaults to fires. Fireworks are involved in 40 percent of the incidents. And the Netherlands control of fireworks is failing, the Board said - there are many problems with the quality mark for legal consumer fireworks and the supervision on it is not good. Illegal fireworks also cause problems.

The report will be presented later on Friday. The Board's recommendations are not binding, but it is considered a strong signal to politicians.