The Dutch highway shooter: real or hoax?

Eddie Dane · 28th September 2011, 03:45 AM

There have been quite a lot of exploding backwindows in cars on the Dutch roads recently.
The media started to report that a "highway shooter" is active, who targets cars.
it became an almost daily news item for a while.

So we have:
-exploding back windows on certain roads.
-no people hit.
-no bullet holes found, ever.
-no projectile found.

Then, nothing happened for two weeks until this morning.

Could this be just stones coming lose from a bad road, combined with media induced panic?

Big Les · 28th September 2011, 04:58 AM

Rear windscreens (tempered glass) do spontaneously shatter from time to time (another example here). Badly made glass being the main culprit I think. The presence of glass on the *outside* of the car might support that theory, though I suppose a bullet causing the stressed screen to shatter might still do the same.

I would imagine that people (the media) are just paying more attention to the phenomenon, and therefore finding more instances of it. Is there any consistency in make/model of car? Because SEATs seem to be no exception.

Either that, or someone with a reasonably powerful air rifle. Might explain the lack of found bullet/bullet holes. I think it unlikely though.

aggle-rithm · 28th September 2011, 05:15 AM

There are MANY things that could shatter a window. It is fairly common for people on the highway to be injured or killed by debris kicked up by other vehicles.

I heard the story of a man driving by a maintenance crew mowing the side of the highway with a tractor. The mower expelled a piece of metal that went through one window of the car, through the driver's head (killing him, of course), and out the other window.

WildCat · 28th September 2011, 05:21 AM

My first car was a '74 Camaro. It had a little blue sticker on the back window the prevous owner had put there. One day I was driving down the road, and in my rearview mirror I noticed the sticker getting smaller and smaller, and I suddenly realized the window had blown off. It gave the illusion of hovering in the air for a moment, and then fell to the pavement and shattered into a million pieces.

Eddie Dane · 28th September 2011, 05:26 AM

I wonder if the police contacted a glass-repair company to compare how often back windows shatter usually.

Bikewer · 28th September 2011, 06:44 AM

Side windows are pretty fragile. Most back windows are a little tougher as they often acommodate defroster units.
I would not be surprised to learn this was some jerk (or jerks) with an air rifle. Mythbusters showed that air rifles shatter rear-window glass quite efficiently, and if if the weapon is shooting steel BBs, they normally do not penetrate. Rather, they shatter the glass but bounce off; leaving little trace.

Safe-Keeper · 28th September 2011, 06:48 AM

Happened to my parents' car once. I suppose someone was trying to assassinate the caged family dog in the back of the car.

BushRanger · 28th September 2011, 10:33 AM

Maybe i missed it, but are all of the vehicles the same make/model?

Checkmite · 28th September 2011, 10:39 AM

It doesn't make sense to me that road debris kicked up by a vehicle could shatter its own rear window. It would have to go outwards, upwards, then back toward the window with enough speed to break the glass.

TX50 · 28th September 2011, 03:43 PM

Originally Posted by Checkmite

It doesn't make sense to me that road debris kicked up by a vehicle could shatter its own rear window. It would have to go outwards, upwards, then back toward the window with enough speed to break the glass.

A vehicle passing by going in the other direction maybe? I dunno.

ETA: We had a nutter going around here shooting cats with a .22 air rifle a while ago. I wouldn't put it past that sort to shoot at cars too.

28th September 2011, 03:45 AM	#1
Eddie Dane Illuminator Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 4,424	The Dutch highway shooter: real or hoax? There have been quite a lot of exploding backwindows in cars on the Dutch roads recently. The media started to report that a "highway shooter" is active, who targets cars. it became an almost daily news item for a while. So we have: -exploding back windows on certain roads. -no people hit. -no bullet holes found, ever. -no projectile found. Then, nothing happened for two weeks until this morning. Could this be just stones coming lose from a bad road, combined with media induced panic?

28th September 2011, 04:58 AM	#2
Big Les Not so much a medium as a large Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 5,004	Rear windscreens (tempered glass) do spontaneously shatter from time to time (another example here). Badly made glass being the main culprit I think. The presence of glass on the outside of the car might support that theory, though I suppose a bullet causing the stressed screen to shatter might still do the same. I would imagine that people (the media) are just paying more attention to the phenomenon, and therefore finding more instances of it. Is there any consistency in make/model of car? Because SEATs seem to be no exception. Either that, or someone with a reasonably powerful air rifle. Might explain the lack of found bullet/bullet holes. I think it unlikely though.
	__________________ "Feeling you’ve done something is not quite the same as the empirical scientific proof." -Stephen Fry The BS Historian Last edited by Big Les; 28th September 2011 at 05:00 AM.

28th September 2011, 05:15 AM	#3
aggle-rithm Ardent Formulist Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 14,153	There are MANY things that could shatter a window. It is fairly common for people on the highway to be injured or killed by debris kicked up by other vehicles. I heard the story of a man driving by a maintenance crew mowing the side of the highway with a tractor. The mower expelled a piece of metal that went through one window of the car, through the driver's head (killing him, of course), and out the other window.
	__________________ To understand recursion, you must first understand recursion. Woo's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be adequately explained by aliens.

28th September 2011, 10:33 AM	#8
BushRanger Scholar Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 83	Maybe i missed it, but are all of the vehicles the same make/model?
BushRanger Scholar Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 83

28th September 2011, 03:43 PM	#10
TX50 Graduate Poster Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 1,555	Originally Posted by Checkmite It doesn't make sense to me that road debris kicked up by a vehicle could shatter its own rear window. It would have to go outwards, upwards, then back toward the window with enough speed to break the glass. A vehicle passing by going in the other direction maybe? I dunno. ETA: We had a nutter going around here shooting cats with a .22 air rifle a while ago. I wouldn't put it past that sort to shoot at cars too.
TX50 Graduate Poster Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 1,555	Last edited by TX50; 28th September 2011 at 03:45 PM.

28th September 2011, 05:21 AM	#4
WildCat NWO Master Conspirator Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Albany Park, Chicago Posts: 49,096	My first car was a '74 Camaro. It had a little blue sticker on the back window the prevous owner had put there. One day I was driving down the road, and in my rearview mirror I noticed the sticker getting smaller and smaller, and I suddenly realized the window had blown off. It gave the illusion of hovering in the air for a moment, and then fell to the pavement and shattered into a million pieces.

28th September 2011, 05:26 AM	#5
Eddie Dane Illuminator Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 4,424	I wonder if the police contacted a glass-repair company to compare how often back windows shatter usually.

28th September 2011, 06:44 AM	#6
Bikewer Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: St. Louis, Mo. Posts: 9,532	Side windows are pretty fragile. Most back windows are a little tougher as they often acommodate defroster units. I would not be surprised to learn this was some jerk (or jerks) with an air rifle. Mythbusters showed that air rifles shatter rear-window glass quite efficiently, and if if the weapon is shooting steel BBs, they normally do not penetrate. Rather, they shatter the glass but bounce off; leaving little trace.

28th September 2011, 06:48 AM	#7
Safe-Keeper Philosopher Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Sogndal, Norway Posts: 7,116	Happened to my parents' car once. I suppose someone was trying to assassinate the caged family dog in the back of the car.

28th September 2011, 10:39 AM	#9
Checkmite Skepticifimisticalationist Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Third in line Posts: 14,887	It doesn't make sense to me that road debris kicked up by a vehicle could shatter its own rear window. It would have to go outwards, upwards, then back toward the window with enough speed to break the glass.