Essay by Eric Worrall
h/t Dr. Willie Soon; A sabotage technique which in my opinion creates a lethal risk for drivers. The eco-terrorists hide small hard objects under the tire valve cap, like a dry lentil, which subtly presses on the valve and slowly bleeds the air out. But this surely leads to a window of time after the attack, during which a driver might not notice their vehicle has been sabotaged.
Tyre Extinguishers – deflating SUV tyres as a form of climate action
UK activists fighting climate heating and pollution say public response more welcoming than expected
Damien Gayle@damiengayle Fri 18 Mar 2022 18.00 AEDT
The activists who took “climate action” against sports utility vehicles by flattening their tyres in the last two weeks have been receiving solidarity and calls for information from around the world.
Tyre Extinguishers provides instructions on how to deflate SUV tyres, offers guidance on who to target and collates reports of actions across the country. They have gauged the campaign’s reach by angry emails from SUV owners.
The group registered a website and started a Twitter account in July 2021. The first reports of actions came at the beginning of March. But in just the past week, activists have “disarmed” SUVs in Chiswick, Maida Vale, Wood Green and Muswell Hill in London, Brighton and Hove and Manchester.
Acting autonomously and, usually, under the cover of darkness, the activists have used lentils to deflate tyres by placing one inside the tyre valve, holding it open and slowly bleeding air until the tyre is flat. The group calculates they’ve deflated the tyres on at least a thousand vehicles in two weeks.
The response from the public has been much more welcoming than they expected. “We are getting loads of emails from SUV drivers in parts of the country where nobody has actually told us they are doing the action, so there’s probably a lot going on we don’t know about,” the group told the Guardian in an email.
…
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/18/tyre-extinguishers-deflating-suv-tyres-as-a-form-of-climate-action
Britain’s roads are heavily congested, and there is some resentment towards people who drive large vehicles. So I believe the terrorists when they claim they have received some support. When I lived in Britain, I personally heard people complaining about SUVs taking more than their share of space on the roads, or producing large amounts of diesel pollution, in already polluted urban areas.
But do “supporters” of Tyre Extinguishers actually want to kill SUV drivers? Because people will die if this eco-terrorism continues. What if a SUV driver leaving early for a long trip, shortly after an attack on their tyres, loses control on the road? What if other people die in the resulting accident? Did those other people also deserve to die, for the “crime” of one person whom they never met before owning a SUV?
The terrorists allegedly leave a note – but notes can blow away if they are not secured properly, or they can disintegrate into mush if there is rain. Or they might simply not be noticed, if the driver is in a hurry.
Owning a SUV while living in London is not a crime. The eco-terrorists have no idea why the people they target own a SUV.
And there are plenty of legitimate reasons to own a SUV, even if you live in London.
For example, British road maintenance is a joke. There are plenty of times I wished I was driving a SUV, even when driving in London. A SUV can smooth out the bumps, from all the unfilled pot holes, and is far less likely to be seriously damaged when the road gets really bad – benefits which might matter, especially to say someone nursing a back injury, or other painful condition.
Perhaps someone runs a home business which requires them to move goods or people. A van might be too specialised – but a SUV might give them the capacity and flexibility they require.
In my opinion these eco-terrorists should be seen for what in my opinion they are – murderous lunatics, who likely don’t care if their attacks cause deaths. We have already seen this kind of callous disregard for human life from British eco-terrorists, with Insulate Now’s outrageous excuse that people who die when they block roads are “collateral damage”, like those who died during WW2 to protect the secret of the Bletchley Park Enigma code breakers.
Let us hope “supporters” wake up, and realise the people they think they support don’t genuinely represent their values, before someone comes to real harm.
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“started a Twitter account in July 2021”
And they have not been cancelled / suspended from Twitter? That is as big a story here as a few lunatics out to destroy and kill by malicious sabotage. Again, we see the hypocrisy of Big Tech on display.
“And they have not been cancelled / suspended from Twitter”?
They’re on narrative.
Would Twitter allow an account called “EV-Extingishers” to let tires down on evil EVs that do not pay for their share of road costs through fuel consumption like SUVs do?
Everyone I know that insists that strict action is required to prevent dangerous runaway global warming has not yet installed any solar on their roofs or purchased an electric vehicle. They claim it’s still too expensive, but they all have $1000 IPhones with unlimited data plans and take vacations in Hawaii.
Priorities, Doonman, priorities.
Why do I drive an SUV? It’s the UTILITY.
Here in the USA, most vehicles tires are equipped with valves that sense the tire pressure. If the pressure falls below a certain set point (usually about 5-10 psi) below where it should be, a warning light will come on alerting you to the fact, so you can take action before the tire gets too soft or goes flat. If your vehicle is not so equipped, I suggest you just remove the cap from the valve stem. I seem to have lost half of mine as it is.
The cap keeps dirt out of the valve.
Regardless, I know half are missing on my mini-van.
I can’t say what I think should happen to them when they are caught, clearly fines and jail time mean nothing to them. A more meaningful form of punishment is called for.
Neo Marxism is about getting useful idiots to believe every issue has a victim and perpetrator.
In this case the useful idiots have convinced even dumber F wits that owners of SUVs are to blame for every natural disaster and must be punished.
They are eating their own. The green elites pushing the “climate change” nonsense are the ones with the private jets and SUVs. These people deflating SUV tyres don’t understand that they have been hoodwinked by hypocrites. But the fact that they are primarily attacking those hypocrites is really rather nice – but only in concept. The reality that it is life-threatening is more important. I expect that the hypocrites will stop them, but it will be interesting to see how they do it without revealing the hypocrisy.
Exploding tire would be fun. I once saw a tire blow on a guy who was changing/patching it (I forget, 3rd world country). It knocked him back five feet and he could not hear anything. Was stunned like hit with a board. Smallish tire too.
Truck tyres are especially dangerous: https://www.tirereview.com/boy-killed-by-exploding-tire/
Places that service truck tires have cages that go around the tire/wheel assembly before inflation begins, in case it doesn’t stay together at 160 psi.
U.K. Terrorism Act 2000
“Terrorism: interpretation.
(1)
In this Act “terrorism” means the use or threat of action where—
(a)
the action falls within subsection (2),
(b)
the use or threat is designed to influence the government [F1or an international governmental organisation] or to intimidate the public or a section of the public, and
(c)
the use or threat is made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious [F2, racial] or ideological cause.
(2)
Action falls within this subsection if it—
(a)
involves serious violence against a person,
(b)
involves serious damage to property,
(c)
endangers a person’s life, other than that of the person committing the action,
(d)
creates a serious risk to the health or safety of the public or a section of the public, or
(e)
is designed seriously to interfere with or seriously to disrupt an electronic system”
This action meets requirements of subsection 2, specifically paragraphs (c) and (d).
In doing so Subsection 1 paragraph (a) is met.
Subsection 1 paragraph (b) is met as it is aimed at intimidating a section of the public.
Subsection 1 (c) is met as it is made for the purpose of advancing an ideological cause.
Therefore, in my humble opinion as a non-lawyer and as a potential passenger on the Clapham omnibus (the definition of a common man used by a former Master of the Rolls, Lord Denning), this constitutes an act of terrorism.
I understand the plugs at public EV chargers contain quite a bit of sellable metals. They have recently started to be targeted by thieves. Who just cut them off. Leaving the charger useless. Perhaps they aren’t thieves, but rather fed up SUV owners wanting payback?
Pure vandalism and another attack on the right to own property and have protection against such criminal thugs.
So what’s the overall aim here? Do they honestly think that SUV drivers will get flat tyres and think, “Oh golly gosh, I suppose I’d better buy a small car, or even an EV.”
So what’s the overall aim here?
Not to change minds or convince people of anything. It’s simply to punish those who dare to think differently.
Catch one and have them charged with attempted murder, which could be the result of this practice.
Needs to start being real penalties for these sociopaths
And this is exactly what was behind the Ford Explorer roll over controversy years ago
Under inflated tires.
Criminal
It’s sort of amusing that they use Lentils to carry out these attacks as for years econuts have been seen as having a diet of Lentils.
As a motor mechanic of many years I can testify to how dangerous this is, a huge number of accidents can be traced back to incorrect tyre pressures as under inflation reduces grip and increases flex in the tyre causing overheating (on longer journeys) uneven tyre pressures upsets handling particularly on more modern vehicles.
Anyone caught doing this should be prosecuted for attempted murder. Where do these nutters get off on putting peoples lives at risk and as you say not just the vehicle user other road users and pedestrians. A friend drives a SUV for their job not because they wants to but because it’s needed for the job they do, the vehicle is kept clean to reflect well on his employer but anyone walking past their home would think it was theirs not a company vehicle.
Fortunately most modern vehicles now come with tyre pressure sensors systems so a drop in pressure would be noticed but behaving in this way is criminal and unlike the loons who climbed a power station shouldn’t be able to use the defense of saving the planet.
I like the line from the Tom MacDonald song that says about leaving a decent planet for our children where we aught to be leaving decent children for the planet.
James Bull
SUVs not only take up more space on the roads; they also take up more space in car parks. Often I have seen a SUV parked in such a way that they exclude the possibility of another car being parked in the adjoining bay. Some SUV drivers seem to think that they are entitled to two bays in a car park. Mind you, other car drivers can be equally inconsiderate.
None of which justify this latest example of eco-terrorism. This latest example of eco-terrorism is just one more example of the prevailing morality that the end justifies the means. As in, a woman has the right to kill the baby in her womb if the woman finds the birth of the child to be inconvenient in some way.
Okay, just a question on my part: does anyone besides me think that this anathematic attitude towards SUVs is toward petroleum-powered vehicles in general?
Would these “earnest people” who are endangering the drivers’ health and welfare, never mind lives, prefer the rather slow and unheated winter transportation of horse/mule-drawn vehicles instead? I’m perfectly willing to take up the reins of a double-hitch curricle to go get groceries, but since winter can be quite nasty in my AO, it would not be a whole lot of fun.
I get the impression that all of the nutballs I frequently refer to as ecohippies and greenbeaners want a return to the days of yore when transportation was either on foot or by horse or mule-drawn transport (and sometimes teams of oxen, too), and that is far more polluting than today’s vehicles have ever been. And frankly, I’m not sure they’d manage to survive even one bad winter, because they things they despise are what keep them alive and they’d have to give up all of that stuff.
But there could be a sunny side to it: perhaps these earnest souls could find useful employment as the street cleaners who shovel horse manure and dispose of it. That might be worth seeing.
I happen to like the smaller SUVs (not the big ones) because they have space for things that otherwise end up on the back seat or the floor, and if you’re going some place distant, the trunks of standard cars don’t hold much these days. I really don’t like putting my groceries in the back seat, so an SUV is a better deal for me.
at the cost of a ruined tyre being rather large usually meaning having to replace 2 if you cant get a matching one.
Id be hunting the sods down for a hiding
hmm removing caps would solve the issue a little? theyre relying on the cap pressing the lentil in. im having to pump up a tyre every day..slow leak getting faster n n funds to buy 2 cant find any used ones damned annoying n limits me to 2km down the rd etc trips. if someone did this on purpose and I found em….murder in the camp as my mum used to say
At one point in my life, I guess I had bought my first 3/4 ton truck, but more importantly, that was the first truck that the owner’s manual advised a different tire pressure than the one in my passenger car. I think I bought the truck with passenger tires on it. When those wore out in 3 months, I put light truck tires on it, but the cheapest ones I could get. Those needed replaced in about 5 months. I was sick of so much time at the tire store, so I bought Michelins with the top priority being tread-life. I didn’t have to buy tires again for about 2½ years. When it was time to replace those, I started working backwards, and found my cost per mile with that set of tires was only sightly more than half the cost per mile of the “cheap” truck tires. So, when you replace them, go big.
“provides instructions on how to deflate SUV tyres,”
The fact that these soy bois need instruction on how to deflate tires shows how out of touch these people are. And lets remember, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Tesla tires can be deflated just as easily.
And, what modern vehicle doesn’t have a tire pressure sensor? It has been mandatory in Canada for over 15 years.
These people are stupid!
In one sentence he has lined every one of them up for not just malicious damage but far more serious charges. ANY lawyer trying to prosecute one of these criminals who does NOT quote that sentence should lose his licence to practice.
He has just admitted they KNOW they risk not just damage to property but injury, trauma and death but they don’t care.
As far as I know, any action with a probability of leading to injury or death is prosecutable as a felony, even if the injury or death did not occur.
(copied from my post on jaoannenova.com.au – I can quote myself… right?)
I note they also remain ‘leaderless’ – I guess these hate-spewing terrorists holding humans at gunpoint have learned the antifa & burn loot murder lesson – if you pretend nobody is leading they fail to fall under conspiracy or other group laws and the leaders can abscond with all donations and buy themselves mansions in nice places.
Furthermore, if this becomes a problem, it won’t be long until there are locking valve-stem caps. End of problem.