Joyride (crime)

To joyride is to drive around in a stolen vehicle with no particular goal other than the pleasure or thrill of doing so.

Under English law and common-law systems derived from it, joyriding is not considered to be theft because the intent to "permanently deprive" the vehicle's owner of the vehicle cannot be proven. Instead, joyriding constitutes a separate, statutorily established offense of "taking without consent" or "unauthorized use", the former usually known by the acronym TWOC or the slang term "twoccing" or "twocking" derived from it.

In Northern Ireland, joyriding is a common crime and many people have campaigned against it. Since the 1980s a number of youth gangs have been in existence, particularly in nationalist areas of Belfast, dedicated to joyriding and other criminal activities. During The Troubles, paramilitaries such as the Provisional IRA administered to suspected joyriders extralegal punishment usually consisting of breaking their fingers or kneecaps in order to temporarily or permanently incapacitate them from operating most motor vehicles. These punishments are still given today by the Continuity IRA, a breakaway organization from the Provisional IRA.

Joyriders or other car thieves often gain access to a locked car with just a flathead screwdriver, although modern cars have systems to prevent a screwdriver from opening locks. Locks in cars manufactured before the mid-1990s were very weak and could be opened easily. The vehicle is started by either hot-wiring or breaking the ignition lock. Ignition systems were much less sophisticated before the mid-1990s and easier to bypass. The vehicle is often driven through rural areas or less busy residential areas to avoid police notice and dumped when it is exhausted of fuel or damaged.

Thieves sometimes then set it on fire to remove evidence, in a similar fashion to other criminals who are destroying evidence that might connect them to a crime.

Joyriding was a major problem in the United Kingdom during the 1980s and accelerated in the 1990s, but has eased off since the year 2000 largely due to improved security standards on newer cars and the number of old cars with more basic security diminishing. Many surviving older cars have had modern security features fitted in order to reduce the risk of theft.

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Wikipedia