Car crime - Punctures

[AliG]

15 years in London without a flat tyre followed by 5 trips to Quickfit LL in 6 weeks.

Each time a nail or screw square through the middle.

Anyone else experienced the same?

Not sure if I need to be swinging a bat at a local kid or I'm just unlucky. The guy at the garage said its happening a lot due to all the building work in the area and stuff falling out of skips.

[jim_the_chin]

banging nails into tyes seems a bit artful for young scallys - i've picked up most punctures when driving too near the gutter where nails tend to congregate.

[Nero]

My partner had 2 flats in the space of about 4 weeks, at least one due to a puncture. Nero

[Mark]

same with my scooter, no punctures for ages then 3 in a month, in my case its the same as jim_the_chin's reason, because the rain washes all the crap (including screws and nails) into the edges of the road. On a bike you tend to go on the areas that cars don't as much (e.g close to the edge of traffic islands, around the base of traffic lights) where this flotsam tends to hang out.

[AnotherPaul]

Hi AliG,

although I think Jim and Mark have nailed this one (apols), what car do you drive? That could have something to do with it if the scally's idea is to have legs.

ap

[Tom]

I was told by a garage that wet weater = punctures.

Considering the weather, I would assume we have found our culprit...

[ruffers]

I trust Kwik Fit is doing repairs on these tyres and not ripping you off for a new one every time ::o

[nuttynat19]

I've recently had a flat tyre after leaving my car parked outside my house for 2 weeks. When I took it to Melbourne Tyres he showed me the punctures and explained that the tyre had actually been slashed twice at the side and no way it was by accident. Costly replacement, not happy. :(

[DaveR]

I had exactly the same experience, and started having the same suspicions. Always seemed to get punctures when parked outside the house, although to be fair there was always at least one skip pon the street and hence builders' waste etc.

No problems since I moved, so maybe not accidental

[kford]

I've had at least a couple in the last year or so; usually when there are skips and builders about - they like to sweep wheelbarrow spillages into the gutter. Melbourne Tyres will plug a nail hole - as long as it's not in the shoulder of the tyre - for a tenner.

[Townleygreen]

I've always found the tyre guy on the corner near the police station to be very reasonable - both for tyres and puncture repairs.

[mazza7103]

i'm glad i'm not the other one who's noticed it!! i've have two punctures in the last 4 months after never having any in 3 years.

i was told by my mechanic that there was no way is way vandelism. i'm putting in down the the building work in the area.

roll on the winter

[Bellenden Jo]

You're not alone, had family over a couple of months ago, and when it came time to leave both my dad and my sister had flat tyres, which did seem a little odd, and we didn't think it was coincidence either. They are now paranoid about parking their cars in my road!!

[ladywotlunches]

A couple of months ago I was minding my own business, driving along up LL about to turn onto Sydenham hill by the Horniman, when CLUNK - an almighty bang and I had a flat tyre. A passerby stopped to help, thankfully, and picked up a massive pair of scissors that had got lodged in my tyre, then gone all the way round (trashing the wheelarch too - nice) and then gone flying onto the pavement - luckily not hitting any pedestrians.

What muppet drops scissors on the road - or was it a 'prank' by the local scallys???

[kford]

It's those anti-car hairdressers again.

[fractionater]

I just found a screw embedded in the front wheel of my brand new Ducatti today - and that's not even parked on the road!

[Burbage]

A long time ago, in a youthful summer, my bicycle suffered a spate of punctures. I got through a lot of patches, a good few inner tubes, and had to splash out on a new tyre. The man in the shop said it was sad, but only to be expected, what with the state of the roads and the rain and the building work.

Shortly before Christmas, the local paper reported that the proprietor of a competing bicycle shop had been miserably fined. He had, apparently, been hiring urchins off the street, and giving them pointy things to play with.

There's no moral to this. And I'm sure there's no relevance, either.