Motor projects may be better for joyriders than bans or detention, study finds

Gardaí speak to motorists pictured at a Garda checkpoint on Chapelizod Road, Dublin. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Motor projects for young men involved in car crime and joyriding may be more effective in combating the problem than driving bans or detention, according to new research.

The study said the State could support the courts in ordering young offenders to attend motor projects and that it could also assist youth projects in actively helping young men get driving lessons and take tests.

The findings are contained in research conducted by Ashling Golden, who works with young offenders as the Justice Programme Manager in the Solas Project, located in Dublin’s south inner city.

The research, published in Irish Probation Journal, said media headlines of cases highlight the “potential horrors” from so-called joyriding and boy racers.

“Anecdotally, from a practitioner perspective, it seems that cases like these are becoming increasingly common,” Ms Golden said. 

“Frequently, youth workers and Probation Officers are dealing with the devastating impact this behaviour can have on the young people involved and the wider impact on the victims of this crime.” 

She said the same repercussions exist for young people and adults for car crime, including mandatory disqualification from driving for drink or drug driving and for dangerous driving.

Ms Golden conducted research among eight young people, aged between 18 and 21, involved in “prolific” car crime.

The lowest number of convictions was two and the highest 50.

She said none of the participants were in full-time employment or education and all received social welfare.

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None of them had completed school, with only half reaching the Junior Cert. In addition, none of them engaged in formal recreational activities.

She said all of them saw joyriding and car theft as “exciting and an engaging activity”.

Ms Golden said there were consistent feelings of “acceptance and belonging” by the younger men with the older crowd involved in rallying cars.

The research said all the young people constantly described themselves in a collective manner, referring to “we” and “the boys”.

Ms Golden said it was a “masculine culture” which rarely included women.

But she said some had seen the worst consequences and referred to friends who had died or been disfigured.

She said that while the impact of relationships and getting older was strong in moving them away from rallying, the “prospect of driving legally soon” was the primary motivation for change.

Concluding, Ms Golden questioned the effectiveness of driving bans: “For young people, a lengthy ban appears to cement their exclusion, thereby ensuring that they have nothing left to lose.” 

She said youth driving programmes, which exist in Europe and the US and promote education, responsibility and access to legitimate driving, should be explored.

Ms Golden said the Department of Justice had recently launched an intervention for scramblers, with financial assistance for local projects, driver training, bike maintenance, second-chance education and mentoring.

She said this was a “positive start”, but said a more systematic long-term approach was needed for car crime, including probation supervision orders to require and support a young person’s attendance at motor projects.

Cautions could also be deployed with a recommendation to attend such projects.