Suspicious punctures.

HeyBigSpender

My tyre is flat, thanks to a screw that is pushed right into one of the treads. It is perfectly vertical to it, so I either drove over an upright screw standing on it's head, or somebody went to the trouble of screwing it in.

I would prefer to think the former, but it has happened to my husbands car as well several times over the last few months. It seems too much of a coincidence, doesn't it?

We park on the street as we have no off street parking, and each time it happened we were parked around the corner from the front of the house. I am not sure whether to report it to the police or not, or whether to ask all the neighbours either personally or by leaving letters (including the ones in the flats where we were parked) to keep an eye out. The annoyance and expense is one thing, but it could be dangerous driving down a motorway with a flat tyre! I'm new to driving and this is my first experience of a flat, and I didn't realise until I got out of the car.

anewman

Sadly if you did not witness or get on camera someone screwing it in, then there's not much can be done with the Police. All I can say is if the screw pulled out easily it was probably pushed in, if it was more difficult to get out it was probably screwed in. Could be someone who thinks they own the space outside their house getting a bit narced with cars parking there.

I don't think leaving letters with everyone will help. If it's not their property they won't care, and if they're the ones doing it they'll do it all the more.

Daxx

As long as the screw is in the thread of the tyre and no the wall of the tyre you should be able to get it fixed for around a £10.

fred7777

I've found screws in my tyres twice in recent years exactly as you described.

It always seemed to happen after I took a short cut past a vehicle body shop to a paint supplier I used. It has never happened sice I stopped taking the short cut.

It's actually quite difficult to screw a screw into a tyre when it's on the car and almost impossible to push it in (unless you push it in by driving over it!).

anewman

It is very easy to push things into the sidewall of tyres but not the tread. If I was trying to be nasty I'd probably take a screwdriver and push it through the sidewall and I'd be done and gone in under a second. Wouldn't mess about with a screw.

Lirin

I had this happen to my car a couple of years ago. I know it was deliberate, and fairly sure who did it, but no point making accusations as nothing would happen.
Easy enough to put a screw into tread- it had been jammed between the tyre and the ground, so when I set off, the car drove it all the way in.

anotherbaldrick

In Spain this is a scam perpetrated by a certain immigrant fraternity.
They push a screw or nail part way into the tyre but not enough to puncture it . They then wait and follow the car and when the tyre finally goes flat, stop in front of the other car 3 get out and before the driver knows what has happened his watch wallet and cards are all gone along with the illegals.

Gene_Hunt_2

Daxx wrote: »

As long as the screw is in the thread of the tyre and no the wall of the tyre you should be able to get it fixed for around a £10.

You can't repair a puncuture in the tread if it's too close to the side wall.

Inactive

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

In Spain this is a scam perpetrated by a certain immigrant fraternity.
They push a screw or nail part way into the tyre but not enough to puncture it . They then wait and follow the car and when the tyre finally goes flat, stop in front of the other car 3 get out and before the driver knows what has happened his watch wallet and cards are all gone along with the illegals.

They are not always " illegals " many of them come from, lets say quite recent EU countries.

Hintza

Gene_Hunt wrote: »

You can't repair a puncuture in the tread if it's too close to the side wall.

But a lot closer than the national tyre companies lead you to believe!

mrbadexample

I wouldn't worry, these things happen. I'd say it was much more likely to be accidental than deliberate.

Is it a short screw or long one? A short one is much more likely to stand on its head.