Half a million Dutch parents took their children to school on foot or by bike on Thursday. Dutch traffic safety organisation VVN has declared 17 September a car-free schoolday. Cars in the neighbourhood of schools, many of them from parents on school runs, are causing a lot of danger to children and other road users.

VVN is campaigning to have car-free zones around all primary schools.

A road block set up to keep cars away from a school in Laag-Soeren, near the city of Arnhem, caused an incident when a man crashed his car into the barrier. He narrowly missed a traffic attendant, who managed to jump to one side. Angry bystanders dragged the man from his car and beat him up. They also smashed his windscreen.

The road had been fenced off to allow parents and children to protest at the intense traffic near the school.