to think that fireworks should be banned

[MadLabOwner]

Some idiots have just set off a mini firework display very close to my house, leaving me with a crying baby, two barking dogs and two scared cats. I really cannot see the point of fireworks since having had pets and now a baby too - I think fireworks are dangerous, noisy and polluting.

Firework displays should be either banned or set up somewhere miles from residential areas, so those who don't want their evening ruined don't get disturbed. Am I being unreasonable?

Greebos, that's dreadful

has there been a hindu festival lately?

Oh, and (after the NYE fireworks orgy) the streets and bl**dy covered with the debris until at least mid-Feb (the Berlin street cleaners clear up the touristy streets and leave the rest in the out-of-the-way residential districts to rot)

Wow I thought I was the only person in the world who hated fireworks. There was a display near us recently which woke me up and I spent the rest of the night plotting how to stop them. I thought they actually were illegal apart from on Nov 5th and possibly NYE but perhaps I am wrong. Anyway I add my vote to YANBU.

YANBU - I have always thought that it was amazing that something so potenially lethal is available to any member of Joe Public over 18.

Public displays only IMO.

berolina,
I thought that the sale of fireworks here in Germany was pretty regulated?
When our neighbour got married last year she had to apply to the council for permission to have a fireworks display.

Other than that, fireworks are only set off on Hogmany (although they youths start celebrating days before).

We used to have a dog who was so frightened of fireworks that she pooed all over the house, so you can imagine how popular fireworks were in our house. The vet used to give us valium in the run up to Guy Fawkes Night. (for the dog, not for us!)

kinder - in theory, yes, in terms of time period. Problem is that people spend three-figure sums on them and stockpile. And in the week or two either side of NYE it is utter anarchy. A few years ago dh, a friend and I went out to the cinema on the 29th or 30th or something and walked slap bang into a running battle - two groups of lads having a firework fight across a four-lane main residential road. Fortunately a bloke came out of his building at that moment and pushed us inside.

That sounds scary. Glad I live in the sticks now, although Berlin is a fab city.

When we lived in the huge metropole Würzburg we went to the town centre at midnight on Hogmany. That was a nightmare, we went into a quieter sidestreet because it was so crowded that I was frightened we would be hit by a rocket.

Agree with op but only to a certain extent. If you knew when and where there were likely to be fireworks set off, then you could prepare yourself. Like we expect it on bonfire night and new year - but increasingly, the bonfire night episode is now stretching to about 2months either side of it - which is unfair for us with pets and kids etc.
So not to ban them but to only allow them on certain designated nights or displays would seem more acceptable

I was hit by a rocket a few NYE ago in Berlin (on a ninth-floor balcony) - fortunately it was out already and on its way down. Still blimming painful, though.

We might end up in Würzburg a few years down the line (dh work) - is it nice?

Wü is lovely, we still have family there and visit often. It might be a bit tame after Berlin right enough. We live near Düsseldorf now and although I still love Würzburg, it is a bit blah for shopping.

It is a student town so there are are lots of nice pubs and bars. The area is good too, always winefests going on.

Oh, we don't mind tame now, we're parents

Actually find Berlin a bit full-on these days (we lived there pre-children and have recently moved back). A smaller university town is more or less my idea of heaven. dh is a Berliner through and through though