When I questioned the veracity of this, another colleague adds, insisting that it was true. She said Jakarta and Bogor are now affected by a wave of car thefts involving windshield Egged, mainly targeting female drivers. She said motorists on the receiving end of an egg should not use water spray, but should lead forward to a couple of kilometers, then stop somewhere safe and clean their windshield.
Seriously? Are thieves really throw eggs to the windshield to steal cars or valuables inside them? I looked online and the first result that I found was the following warning displayed by the traffic police in East Java on their page: "If you drive at night and eggs are thrown at your windshield, dO NOT operate the wiper / spray / liquid of any kind. When the egg is mixed with water, it becomes milky and block your vision up to 92.5%. You will be obliged to stop on the side of the road and could be stolen. This is the latest method used by thieves. Just turn on the wipers without water and keep driving at a constant speed. Do not panic or stop in the region. "
well, if the caution comes from the police, it must be true, right? False. It is a stupid hoax, first spread online there for many years and is still perpetuated by gullible people. The warning of the traffic police in East Java received 1500 likes' and hundreds of comments of recognition.
If someone throws an egg on your windshield wipers and water wash. It does not cause the ridiculously precise level of 92.5% blocked vision.
The warning of the egg was repeated by online news media, who should know better than to report urban myths as fact. Indonesian police were initially fooled by the hoax in 2008 when the spokesman of the National Police Inspector General Sisno Adiwinoto said that if drivers got out of their car to clean a windshield with a rag egged, thieves were stealing the vehicle valuables.
Sisno admitted that the police had not actually received any official reports on this type of crime. Not one. But he still held a press conference to warn that the use of scrapers to remove an egg stain would opaque windshield.
Many flights are not reported in Indonesia because some police refuse to investigate unless the victim of the crime pays them a bribe. Yet in the case of Egged windshield, there has never been a case in point. It is possible that some criminals may be inspired to try the method described in the hoax, but it is unlikely to work.
At least one enterprising company offers to provide a special windscreen that protects against "thugs hurling eggs".
Another warning car theft can spread online goes like this. "It was produced in several shopping malls in Jakarta Upon returning to your car after shopping, you begin to topple out of your parking space when you notice a big piece of piece of paper, a kind of flyer, cover your rear windshield. so you get out of the car to remove the paper, how a carjacker will melt and hunt in your car, or take your easily accessible bag, wallet, etc. "
again, this just n" t true Imagine trying to steal a car. - while the owner is present and able triggering the alarm. - from a shopping center parking lot, where there are barriers to exit and guards
There is no harm in advising motorists to always beware of flight potential. But something is wrong if people, especially the police and journalists, blindly believe hoaxes without bothering to investigate. More broadly, it is like believing that ghosts are real. It is like believing that a man responsible for the kidnapping and torture of pro-democracy activists is the ideal kind of fellow to be running the country. Police and journalists should be public education, even encourage critical thinking, rather than spread lies just blindly.
Anyway, I'll have egg on my face clean next time I report something as fact without bothering to check my sources.