colloquially you are correct but it can also mean just aimless driving because you enjoy driving.

by StrawberryFew 22 hours ago

It can, because language is flexible, but aimlessly driving around is more frequently referred to as cruising.

by Anonymous 21 hours ago

Yes I know :)

by StrawberryFew 21 hours ago

You are correct. Although I don't think "recklessly" is a requirement. It's people driving around in a stolen car that they stole for no other purpose other than to just drive around and later abandon. Contrast that to a car stolen to escape from a bank robbery or to strip and sell the parts... OP seems lost.

by Anonymous 21 hours ago

Taking the car out for a drive with no destination in mind is a joyride.

by Agreeable-Vast 21 hours ago

I think more accurately this would be cruising.

by Anonymous 21 hours ago

Joyriding involves stealing the car. The problem is not a lack of fun but an excess of GTO. It used to be that the serious crime of theft was pled down to/characterized as "joyriding" by teens. I think nowadays it's straight to jail with that one.

by Anonymous 20 hours ago

Ok. Couple things here. Folks don't only go joyriding in the city, and since a vast majority of this country (land, not population) is countryside, it's foreseeable folks would want to go for a relaxing drive. Second, Even some of the busiest cities in the country (if you're in the US) have quiet times that it's reasonable to simply drive around. Lastly, I understand your concerns about car pollution, but "essential" travel varies from person to person, and mandating it isn't something that's going to produce the outcome you want, it will just become a privilege of the well connected or businesses. I'm all for public transport, but this feels like a non-existent problem that's somehow irritated you.

by Anonymous 20 hours ago

Some of us don't live in major cities though.

by Anonymous 20 hours ago

I feel like this is an opinion that only applies if you live in large enough cities. A lot of places I've lived are very close to farm country and so we would go on "cutty" drives for fun, we didn't just drive around town or cities for fun. I don't know many people who do drive around cities just for fun.

by StrawberryFew 19 hours ago

I've been doing it since I first started driving and still am decades later. I also live in a big city.

by Anonymous 19 hours ago

What a weird take.

by Anonymous 19 hours ago

For one, you can definitely still go drive for pleasure anywhere. Do people usually do this in the middle of a city anyway? I figured that was more of a "get out of the city" type of thing. Otherwise, joyriding is stealing a car which is actually harder to do nowadays unless you get the keys too

by Anonymous 18 hours ago