A cyclist who discovered wing mirrors on three vehicles studded with spikes has reported the improvised modifications to Greater Manchester Police.
* 2/12/2021: A man who claims to own the vehicle pictured has now spoken to defend his actions – read the updated story here
Twitter user @OneAdultSwim1 posted about the improvised modifications on Sunday, saying that there “Seems to be a growing trend in my area of adding crude spikes to the passenger side wing mirror … usually in the form of large screws through the mirror casing.
“Spotted one, and another and a third today all on different vehicles. I’m going to get a picture next time. Be warned.”
Revisited and heres what it looks like. A crude repair? Strange that I’ve seem 2 other vehicles with this “repair” in my area recently. Disguised as a repair. in the realms of conspiracy now.
What do you think? https://t.co/l8NXSRlZeA pic.twitter.com/ytg53gPEzs
— OneAdultSwim (@OneAdultSwim1) November 29, 2021
Tweeting a picture yesterday evening of one of the vehicles, which carries the livery of a painting and decorating firm, he added: “Revisited and here’s what it looks like.
“A crude repair? Strange that I’ve seen two other vehicles with this ‘repair’ in my area recently. Disguised as a repair. In the realms of conspiracy now.”
He told road.cc: “Last week I’ve seen three vehicles with this modification. The first two I saw were in the same line of traffic a few cars apart on Station Road in Cheadle, in the middle of last week.
“They were both rugged-looking vehicles with intermediate off-road tyres and air intake rams, rumbling down the small high street here.
“However the image I posted is on the side of liveried van (painter and decorator) which is also in the Cheadle area, I noticed this on Sunday, went past again yesterday and gave them a close-up inspection, just to check they weren’t rubber or anything.”
A number of Twitter users urged @OneAdultSwim1 to report what he had found to the police, which he did this morning on the non-emergency number 101 to what he described as “a very sceptical call handler.”
Definate dangerous condition requires prosecution and prohibition, please get registrations and inform the police via 101, website chat or crimestoppers ?
— Mark Hodson (@markandcharlie) November 29, 2021
In fact, if I were you, I’d not report that online – I’d call 101 or 999 right now and get it sorted (one way or the other…) tonight – that’s a clear and imminent danger.
— Heavy Metal Handcyclist (@CrippledCyclist) November 29, 2021
He continued: “I was reluctant to post as might give others ideas, but decided to post in the end after consideration.
“I also asked during the call if there was any way I could pass on the images but they don’t have that facility. The report was made about 08:30 and the lady said she would ‘pass it on’.”
We have approached Greater Manchester Police for a comment, and will update this story once we receive it.
In the meantime, the Surrey Police Roads Policing Unit did comment on the tweet, saying there was an arrestable offence for possession of “an offensive weapon.”
Wouldn’t call it a field day tbh, just an arrest for an offensive weapon.
— Roads Policing Unit (RPU) – Surrey Police – UK (@SurreyRoadCops) November 30, 2021
56 thoughts on “Car wing mirrors studded with spikes reported to Greater Manchester Police”
Nice to see Mark Hodson
Nice to see Mark Hodson within some of the tweet replies. I see now he is on secondment with CMPG which explains the massive drop in WMP active travel protections as he is stuck in a Jam Sandwich going up and down the motorways.
Such a shame the higher ups at WMP decided to change tack surreptitiously whilst still riding the coat tails of Mark and Steve’s pioneering work in all their publicity.
I’m trying to understand the
I’m trying to understand the thought process that someone goes through in constructing such a weapon.
I am regularly staggered at the level of hatred and violence that some people wish to inflict on other human beings.
“Thought process”? You’re
“Thought process”? You’re giving them too much credit
‘It’s just bants’
“C’mon, get up; it’s not that
“C’mon, get up; it’s not that bad anyway; it’ll stop bleeding: it was just a joke…”
I’m a student of history, as
I’m a student of history, as well as former policeman and social worker.. nothing surprises me about human nature; the capacity for evil knows no bounds.
Reminds me of this
Reminds me of this
hawkinspeter wrote:
Showing your age there, Peter. You didn’t read Action comic by any chance?
Eton Rifle wrote:
Don’t think so, though the covers look vaguely familiar. I was too young to see Rollerball when it first came out, but I’m a big fan of 1970s and earlier Sci-Fi. (The remake was a bit pants)
Eton Rifle wrote:
Reminds me of this
— Eton Rifle Showing your age there, Peter. You didn’t read Action comic by any chance?— hawkinspeter
Isn’t Rollerball as a concept a bit more 2000AD?
It seems rather unnecessary
It seems rather unnecessary when a normal car can be used as an offensive weapon so easily.
AidanR wrote:
True, but this demonstrates intent.
Is this where we empathise
Is this where we empathise with them as they have “issues around stabbing” ?
Too many people binge
Too many people binge-watching Mad Max during the pandemic.
Mad Manx?
Mad Manx? Actually Mad Mancs as we know people who live on the IOM are already mad.
If I removed with a dlock,
If I removed it with a dlock, what would the legal position be ?
You’d be fine – when they
You’d be fine – when they claimed that you’d damaged their wing mirror, you could point out that was impossible, since it didn’t have one – only a DOOR MIRROR.
hirsute wrote:
I’d recommend standing by the side of the car towards the front. If you stand by the door, then there’s the chance that a passenger could swing the door into you.
hirsute wrote:
Glock would be a better choice
ErnieC wrote:
Gangsta!
Rank amateurs!
Rank amateurs!
“I also asked during the call
“I also asked during the call if there was any way I could pass on the images but they don’t have that facility”
So I called the police to say that I have just witnessed a murder and I have photographic evidence. “Sorry we don’t have the facility for you to send us the image”. What a load of twaddle!
DOOR mirrors – “wing” mirrors
DOOR mirrors – “wing” mirrors went out in the 1970’s.
Common terminology. Does
Common terminology. Does not need to be accurate.
rct wrote:
Do you use the terms “road tax” or “road fund licence”?
swldxer wrote:
false dichotomy; car tax.
Anyway, what took you so long?
Thank you for proving my
Thank you for proving my point that terms become obsolete and redundant or change in time, like “wing” mirrors.
swldxer wrote:
except … it didn’t change or become obsolete, everybody still calls them wing mirrors.
In Straya, we call them side
In Straya, we call them side mirrors.. no obsolescence or confusion here.
Not “everybody”. There was a
Not “everybody”. There was a radio advert for a car that had “heated door mirrors” on LBC a few weeks ago. Everybody uses “road tax” and that’s wrong too.
swldxer wrote:
Only that simply hasn’t happened, much as you would like it to, virtually everyone calls them wing mirrors as a quick Google of the two terms shows.
Do you use the terms “road
Do you use the terms “road tax” or “road fund licence”?
Neither, Vehicle Excise Duty as any fule kno Molesworth!
Hamster wrote:
Not the ABD though. Or Farage and UKIP.
I don’t know about rct, but
I don’t know about rct, but both are widly obsolete. It’s just a vehicle tax aka Vehicle Excise Duty. IMHO, it needs at least a tenfold increase now, then doubling every 2 years.
swldxer wrote:
Not according to my 08 scenic….
except that mirror is mounted
except that mirror is mounted to the A pillar, not the wing panel..
So do we have to start
So do we have to start calling that one an “A-mirror”? So, we have A-mirrors, wing mirrors, and door mirrors.
Don’t get me started on the ‘windscreen frame mirrors’…
What are people going to
What are people going to start calling the little camera things appearing on lorries and cars instead of mirrors?
All a bit Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle, innit?
grOg wrote:
Also mounted to the wing. As is the wing panel….
Captain Badger wrote:
…the knee bone’s connected to the… thigh bone…
grOg wrote:
The boid is on the wing,
But that’s absoid
From what I hoid
The wing is on the boid!
Captain Badger wrote:
Just because Renault were still installing them in 2008, doesn’t mean they were still on trend at that time.
wycombewheeler wrote:
I’m glad to hear it. The last thing I want is trendy car.
Good gods, you’ll be expecting me to buy a BMW next…..
https://books.google.com
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=wing+mirror%2Fdoor+mirror&year_start=1900&year_end=2019&corpus=29&smoothing=3
If I call them wing mirror
If I call them wing mirror cause they stick out like an aircraft wing would that be ok?
Rua_taniwha wrote:
then they would need to be flat not vertical
pedant
pedant
/ˈpɛd(ə)nt/
Learn to pronounce
noun
a person who is excessively concerned with minor details and rules or with displaying academic learning.
In my cars handbook they are
In my cars handbook they are called exterior mirrors.
Since this modification
Since this modification demonstrates intent to cause injury or death, the offensive weapon should be confiscated and destroyed; the vehicle, not the mirror. Preferably with the driver in it.
But I suppose I’d settle for possession of an offensive weapon and a large fine.
What was the name of the
What was the name of the decorating company that made the modification. I would like to phone them for a quote. Everyday at around 3am. I would also leave some feedback for them to ensure their business gets the recognition it deserves.
Looks like it’s just held on
Looks like it’s just held on with tape. Could perhaps be carefully removed and wedged safely under the front nearside tyre.
Oh neat, I’ve gotten quoted!
Oh neat, I’ve gotten quoted!
As I’ve said elsewhere – If you see this sort of thing, immediately call 999 or 101.
If they don’t take it seriously, and you know where it’s left parked – D-lock it.
Also the vehicle in the picture isn’t insured or MOT’d.
@SurreyRoadCops is one of the
@SurreyRoadCops is one of the best police twitter accounts. Follow.
Yup, they do a lot of
Yup, they do a lot of excellent work.
@markandcharlie too.
In my mind this is classed as
In my mind this is classed as dangerous bodywork and would therefore be an MOT failure. I’m not sure the police have the time or inclination to be proactive but if someone were to be injured before they’d followed up this tip-off it would be embarrassing.
Just a thought but if the door mirror were to be ‘found’ covered in blood (& still dripping) surely it would be a moral duty to report to the police as a 999 call as it would ‘appear’ someone had suffered a serious and life threatening injury…
Anybody friends with the prop department of Casualty?
My limited experience of door
My limited experience of door mirrors is they are designed to ‘uncouple’ from their mountings with a modicum of force. If these door mirrors were ‘accidentally’ knocked, I would expect the modifications would make some nasty scratches on the door’s paintwork!!?
Wing mirrors. There, I said
Wing mirrors. There, I said it.