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The snopes link also mentions warnings about thieves placing 'spikes' in parking areas, so that a car will have to stop soon after leaving to change the wheel. THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO US! Not in the UK, but in Spain; we stopped for a coffee at a service station, and soon after driving off (just after joining the main road) we had a puncture. No sooner had we stopped than a van pulled up with 2 'helpful' men who proceeded to unload the car (unnecessary as both spare wheel and jack were accessible without any unloading) and tried to get me to walk away with the emergency triangle. I looked back and saw one of them holding my spare handbag (the one with UK money in) and about to open it.
When I simply walked back towards him holding my hand out, he gave me the bag, and they both got back in the van and drove off. Once we had changed the wheel, we found a large headed nail embedded in it.
On a different visit, we got the 'other version', a car driving alongside on the motorway and the passenger making "you've got a dodgy wheel' signs. We pulled over, OH got out to see what was wrong, then there was a sort of 'thump' as if something had suddenly landed on the driver's seat. Since the dogs were in the car, I looked round (forgetting thatthey were safely behind the dog guard) and there was the second person from that car reaching for my handbag. Once seen, he ran, so did the other one, and they drove off at speed.
There ARE thieves using all sorts of odd techniques to get access to your property, but mostly they will use guile, rather than force, and so far they seem less common here (I had heard about the 'helpful advice on motorway' trick happening in Spain, but you don't think of it until afterwards....)
When I simply walked back towards him holding my hand out, he gave me the bag, and they both got back in the van and drove off. Once we had changed the wheel, we found a large headed nail embedded in it.
On a different visit, we got the 'other version', a car driving alongside on the motorway and the passenger making "you've got a dodgy wheel' signs. We pulled over, OH got out to see what was wrong, then there was a sort of 'thump' as if something had suddenly landed on the driver's seat. Since the dogs were in the car, I looked round (forgetting thatthey were safely behind the dog guard) and there was the second person from that car reaching for my handbag. Once seen, he ran, so did the other one, and they drove off at speed.
There ARE thieves using all sorts of odd techniques to get access to your property, but mostly they will use guile, rather than force, and so far they seem less common here (I had heard about the 'helpful advice on motorway' trick happening in Spain, but you don't think of it until afterwards....)
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