Car Friday
Autoposer meeting moved from NRW to the Netherlands
The police increased their control of the car tuning scene in many places on Good Friday. On “Car Friday” there are traditionally often illegal car races or other traffic violations. photo
© Christoph Reichwein/dpa
Traditionally, illegal car races often take place on “Car Friday”. A tuner meeting is said to have attracted around 10,000 people to the Dutch town of Cuijk.
People gathered in the parking lot of a hardware store in up to 2,000 souped-up cars Goch on the Lower Rhine. A police spokesman in Kleve reported that the members of the car poser and tuner scene were traveling with their engines roaring loudly and honking their horns. It was said that there were no so-called donuts or illegal races.
It was initially not known whether expulsions or fines were handed out and how many people were there in total. The police initially spoke of several hundred people. However, since the police were showing a strong presence, the meeting shifted towards the Netherlands.
“Car Friday” is largely customary in North Rhine-Westphalia
About 15 kilometers behind the German-Dutch border in the town of Cuijk, a total of 6,000 cars came together later in the evening, a press spokesman for the Dutch police told the dpa on site. Around 10,000 people had gathered. The meeting was broken up with the support of German federal police officers. According to the police, hundreds of evictions were issued. Around 50 fines were also handed out. People face fines of up to 450 euros.
According to the police, “Car Friday” in North Rhine-Westphalia had been largely civilized until yesterday afternoon. Throughout the day, the officials, with the support of experts, inspected the traditional meetings of the tuner and poser scene and their high-horsepower vehicles. In Düsseldorf, Bochum and Essen there were targeted checks on the tuning scene with a separate contingent of emergency services. In Oberhausen, too, checks were carried out throughout the city and especially in the area of the “Centro” shopping center.
In Goch, police spokesman Stefan Sparberg said in the evening: “There are vehicles here from all over North Rhine-Westphalia, but also from neighboring countries and from Lower Saxony.” There is still traffic at the meeting point near Autobahn 57. This leads to traffic jams and disruptions. The police check on an event-related basis. The behavior was typical of the scene, he said calmly: “You honk, you are loud, you let the engines roar.”