Alert - Eggs Thrown at Windscreen while Driving at Night - Facts Analysis

Story:

If you are driving at night and eggs are thrown at your windscreen, do not stop to check the car, do not operate the wiper and do not spray any water, because eggs mixed with water become milky and block your vision up to 92.5%, and you are then forced to stop beside the road and become a victim of these criminals. This is a new technique used by gangs, so please inform your friends and relatives.

Don’t forget to share with everyone…

Origin:

These messages started to spread in late 2009 through various emails.
Example 1:

Fwd: New Trick To rob You…
If you are driving at night and eggs are thrown at your windshield.
Do not operate the wiper and spray any water because eggs mixed with water become milky and block your vision up to 92.5% so you are forced to stop at the roadside and become a victim of robbers.

This is a new technique used by robbers.
Please inform your friends and relatives.

Example 2:

New Warnings
FYI, passed along from personnel at the Paulding County Courthouse, in Georgia. Several things to be aware of this year… as gangs and robbers are now plotting different ways to get a person to “stop” their vehicle.
Please note:
There is a gang initiation reported by the local police department that gangs are placing a car seat by the road … with a fake baby in it… waiting for a woman, of course, to stop and check on the baby. Note that the location of this car seat will usually be beside a wooded or grassy (field) area …and the person – woman – will be dragged into the woods – beaten and raped – usually left for dead. DO NOT STOP. DIAL 9-1-1 AND INFORM THEM…

Fact Check:

These kind of warnings started to spread through forwarded emails from late 2009, in YahooGroups mail list. However, there are no such mentions of incidents in our online searches or government alerts as mentioned in the messages. While robbers often seek various ways to rob and harm drivers at night, no such instances were actually reported.

The message states that robbers throw eggs mixed with water at windscreens of cars during night times, to block vision of people and rob them. A mixture of egg and water does produce somewhat milky substance when vigorously stirred, but it can not completely block the vision of the driver. Egg and water combination is a relatively thin substance and is easy to see through. Also it can be easily cleared with the wipers of the vehicle.

Therefore, these messages are simply hoaxes and need not be shared. But having said that one must be careful while driving in unknown places, especially at nights.