The driver of a lorry who brought his vehicle to a standstill on the A28 motorway last week, creating a traffic jam which led to the death of a 58-year-old motorcyclist, has been arrested and charged with causing a fatal accident.

The public prosecutor has not said if the lorry driver was taking part in the pro-farmer protests, but militant campaign group Agractie had called for a 15 minute strike at 3pm on Friday and the accident occurred around that time.

There were protest stoppages on other roads and motorways on Friday afternoon, news agency ANP reported.

The lorry driver has been released from custody but ordered to hand in his driving licence. A second man, who was driving the delivery fan which the motorcyclist crashed into, has also been charged.

Public prosecution office spokesman Diederik Greive said that the investigation into the causes of the traffic jam and crash are continuing. Stopping on a busy motorway can lead to dangerous situations ‘as we have seen in Friday’s tragic accident,’ he said.

Stoppages

Farmers have been using motorway protests as part of their campaign against the government’s plans to combat nitrogren-based pollution. They claim the sector will be decimated if hundreds of farms are forced to close because they are near nature reserves.

Supermarkets

Meanwhile the supermarket sector has lost between €30 million and €45 million because of the farmers’ blockades at distribution centres, according to umbrella organisation CBL.

Director Marc Jansen told Nu.nl that supermarkets have had enough. ‘We expect mayors to stop this sort of campaign, and if that does not happen, national government should take action,’ he said.

Supermarkets are now looking into the legal aspects of claiming damages from the farmers in compensation, he said.