Joyride (crime)

Vehicle abandoned after a joyride, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

To joyride is to drive around in a stolen vehicle with no particular goal; a ride taken solely for pleasure.

In English law, joyriding is not considered to be theft, because the intention to "permanently deprive" the owner of the vehicle cannot be proven. Instead, a separate offense of "taking without consent", usually known by the acronym TWOC, applies to motor vehicles. Therefore "twoccing" or "twocking" is another term for joyriding. In Northern Ireland, joyriding is a common crime and many people have campaigned against it. During The Troubles, paramilitaries such as the Provisional IRA administered extralegal punishment to joyriders, usually consisting of breaking their fingers or kneecaps, thus rendering them unable to operate a vehicle again. These punishments are still given today if there is a suspected joyrider, but 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 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.

High performance cars including Ford's high performance XR and Cosworth models were a popular choice for car thieves when joyriding in the United Kingdom was its peak, which contributed to a rise in insurance premiums for owners of such vehicles. Many motorists fitted their cars with security features before such equipment became standard on new cars. Since the advent of immobilisers and car alarms, car thieves have frequently mugged motorists or broken into their homes in order to steal the keys to a car.

In 2005 the Home Office conducted a survey to find out the most stolen cars per registered in the UK:

1. Vauxhall Belmont (1986-1991)
2. Vauxhall Astra Mk2 (1984-1991)
3. Ford Escort Mk3 (1980-1990)
4. Austin/MG Metro (1980-1990)
5. Vauxhall Nova (1983-1993)
6. Ford Orion (1983-1993)
7. Rover Metro (1990-1994)
8. Austin/MG/Rover Maestro (1983-1994)
9. Austin/MG/Rover Montego (1984-1994)
10. Ford Fiesta Mks1, 2 and 3 (1976-1995)

The lack of security in older cars compared to modern equivalents is reflected in the fact that all of the cars listed had been out of production for at least 10 years and the oldest examples of most of these cars were at least 20 years old.

In 2009 the Home Office conducted a new survey and found out the most stolen cars (per registered) were as follows:

1. Vauxhall Astra (1980–present)
2. Volkswagen Golf (1974–present)
3. Ford Fiesta (1976–present)
4. Ford Focus (1998–present)
5. Ford Escort (1968-2000)
6. Vauxhall Corsa (1993–present)
7. Ford Mondeo (1993–present)
8. Ford Transit (1964–present)
9. Vauxhall Vectra (1995-2008)
10. Honda Civic (1972–present)

The information released does not show the specific generation of a car, making it difficult to determine how many older examples were stolen in relation to more modern ones. For instance, the Ford Transit nameplate dates back to 1964 and the Ford Fiesta first appeared in 1976. However, the Ford Focus is the only nameplate on the list to have been introduced after 1995, around the time that car security standards became more advanced.

In the USA the most stolen cars in 2007 (per registered) were:

1. Honda Civic
2. Honda Accord
3. Toyota Camry
4. Ford F-150
5. Chevrolet Silverado
6. Acura Integra
7. Ram 1500
8. Nissan Sentra
9. Toyota Pickup
10. Toyota Corolla

See also

• Criminal conversion
• Driver's license in the United States
• Motor vehicle theft
• Police
• Ram-raiding