Truck driver held after spilled potatoes cause chaos on Danish bridge

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/01/truck-driver-held-spilled-potatoes-havoc-danish-bridge

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Spills occur as Danish parliament passes law to tax petrol and diesel trucks transporting heavy loads

A 57-year-old truck driver has been detained after loads of potatoes were found on a bridge linking two Danish islands, police have said. The driver was held on suspicion of causing reckless endangerment to life.

The first spill was reported on the westbound side of the Storebaelt Bridge early on Thursday morning, a police spokesperson, Kenneth Taanquist, said. The bridge connects the island where the capital, Copenhagen, is located to the rest of Denmark.

A similar incident happened on the eastbound side a short time later, Taanquist added. “It looks weird,” he said. “We are working on two hypotheses: it is either an accident or it is something that has been done deliberately.”

Police said the roads had become slippery and urged drivers to reduce their speed. According to the Danish Road Directorate, lines of vehicles were reported on either side of the18km (11-mile) bridge and tunnel link between the islands of Funen, where Odense – Denmark’s third largest city – is located, and Zealand, where Copenhagen sits.

A third incident of potatoes on the road was reported near the town of Kolding on the Jutland peninsula. Kolding is near the Storebaelt Bridge.

The Danish public broadcaster DR said the potato spills occurred on the same day as the Danish parliament passed a law to tax diesel trucks transporting heavy loads.

The new measure has drawn protests from truck drivers. In recent weeks, they peacefully blocked highways and main roads throughout Denmark, claiming the tax will make their livelihoods unsustainable. A majority in the Danish parliament argue the tax is vital as the continued use of petrol and diesel trucks is environmentally unsustainable.

From 2025, drivers of petrol and diesel vehicles of more than 3.5 tons (7,716lb) will be taxed 1.3 Danish kroner (15p) a kilometre.

Torben Dyhl Hjorth, a spokesperson for the protesting truckers, said on Facebook they “strongly distance themselves from today’s ‘stunts’”. The drivers plan to protest at a later stage when it “can be felt but without risk to people’s lives and wellbeing”.