Trend among youth gangs

Why you should never leave your car unlocked

(Bild: stock.adobe.com, krone.at-Grafik)

A dangerous hobby among young people is increasingly making the headlines. The "trend" is often the subject of hearings in the criminal courts. "Take a joyride!" is how the accused put it. The cases of the last few weeks alone are highly alarming.

"That's when I said: 'Come on, go find a car'." That's how casually a 14-year-old defendant talked about her "hobby" in the Vienna Regional Court. "We were just looking for cars that were open and had the key in them. And found them." The girl, who had to be committed to an institution due to extreme excesses of violence, is said to have driven a total of four times before she was arrested.