The 'burning streets' nights of Gen Z's crazy drivers and the feelings of parents

Knowing that giving a car to a child at this age is wrong, Ms. Thuy still believes because of the promise "the child only goes to school and stays in the village".

A teenage boy drove erratically, hit a person, and caused a traumatic brain injury - Photo: HONG QUANG

"Uncle, lend me some money. My nephew hit someone and is in the hospital," Mrs. Thuy quickly emptied nearly 7 million in savings and ran to her brother-in-law's house to borrow more. Quickly closing the old door on the wall of the house with its crumbling bricks and mortar, she tightly held the brand new coins and rushed out to catch the bus to Hospital 103.

This is the second time in the past year that the 35-year-old woman has received news that her son is involved in a crime.

Nights of "burning streets"

"Is the street on fire?" - a short text message that a group of friends around M.'s age (17 years old, in Ung Hoa, Hanoi) often send each night.

At first, there were only about 10 people, then each member invited 1-2 more friends. And so, sometimes there were up to 25-30 people... After playing around the district town, the group went to the central streets of Hanoi.

"At first, we drove normally, but later on, there were cars that kept dodging and overtaking us, so the whole group had to follow and joke around. We were partying, our phones were all plugged in, and we didn't have any money, so if we couldn't follow in time, we would get lost," M. said.

Talking about the reason for choosing "zigzagging" for fun, M. said that in the countryside "there is nothing interesting". "Fancy" restaurants and cafes are not the choice of teenagers who have not yet made money.

"I always think about remixed songs online, it's a catalyst that makes me not afraid of anything, just go full throttle," said the 17-year-old boy, adding that when sitting in the car, everyone is confident that they have a strong enough steering wheel to handle any situation, if they go slow or get lost from the group, it will be very "embarrassing".

A group of friends accompanying M. were detained by the police after hitting a young man who suffered a traumatic brain injury - Photo: DA

But the fun didn't always go smoothly. Last June, after a conflict on the road, M.'s group returned to the village to get "stuff" including all kinds of weapons such as pig spears, machetes hooked on long sticks... to retaliate.

Nearly a dozen teenagers rushed out into the street, angry and unable to control their emotions. When they encountered two passersby who "looked like" the group that had caused the conflict earlier, the group attacked them.

"My friends just need to see someone riding a modified bike with flashing lights and looking like the other group and they will jump in and beat them up," said the 17-year-old boy.

After hitting Mr. NVK on the road on the night of June 23, M. was sentenced to 8 months in prison. "The first time I was really scared, I asked my mother to file an appeal. I hope you will be lenient," M. said, adding that since the day he returned home to wait for the decision, he no longer dared to leave the village.

Long slide

Looking back on her son's long slide, Ms. Thuy (M.'s mother) admitted that she was responsible. She and her husband worked as construction workers, leaving early and coming home late, only taking advantage of their lunch break to visit home. She said "they had little time to take care of their son."

M. is the eldest son, has high expectations so is spoiled and protected by his parents.

From the middle of the 9th grade, M. neglected his studies. At the end of the year, he asked his parents to let him drop out because "no matter how hard he tried, his studies just wouldn't go in". When their advice failed, Mrs. Thuy and her husband asked their relatives of the same age to advise him. M. did not listen, and decided to drop out of school to follow his friends to work seasonally to earn money in Ha Nam, then went back to Hanoi.

The mother felt "unable to survive" when one afternoon in June 2023, she heard that her son had been invited to work at the Ung Hoa District Police. M. followed a group of young men from the same village to assault two people on the street. He was summoned for investigation, although it was later determined that he had only stayed in the car and did not directly beat anyone.

Two days later, Mrs. Thuy sold the only motorbike in the house so that her son would not hang out with his friends anymore. The work was a few kilometers away from home, so she walked, and when it was too far, she asked for a ride.

Mrs. Thuy burst into tears when talking about her eldest son's long slide - Photo: HONG QUANG

After the first fall, M. asked her parents to let her go back to school at the Continuing Education Center. As if a ray of hope had appeared again, "I tearfully advised my son that his parents did not have the conditions to study, so everything was difficult. I just hope he can escape this situation," she said.

Life was always short of money, but in November 2023, the couple still saved up and bought their son a motorbike. Knowing that handing over a motorbike at this age was wrong, they still put their trust in him because of the promise "he only goes to school and around the village".

But Mrs. Thuy had to admit that her son listened to his friends more than his parents. Before the school year was over, M. asked for a leave of absence and stayed home. Late on June 23, this teenager and his friends drove erratically, swerved, and hit a person on the road. The crash caused the 27-year-old victim to suffer a traumatic brain injury. M. also suffered a broken jaw and severe injuries to his leg.

"I was helpless, feeling like I had lost my child," Ms. Thuy said about the afternoon when she was harvesting rice for hire and heard that her child had been involved in a second violation of the law. The couple ran around asking to borrow money everywhere, draining all the savings in the house, nearly 20 million VND.

About 10km from Mrs. Thuy's house, one afternoon in late June, Mrs. Tho (44 years old, Quang Phu Cau village) was splitting bamboo stems into incense sticks when she received the news that her son was "detained by the police".

The night before, D. (17 years old) was driving erratically with M.'s group. Luckily, he was not involved in the collision with the pedestrian.

D. is the youngest child in the family, with four older sisters. Worrying overcame his anger, Mr. Xa (Mrs. Tho's husband) scratched his head, urging his wife and four daughters to go home, to immediately go to the police station to investigate the matter. Meeting his mother, D. sobbed, clasped his hands and prayed, "Please save me, mother."

During the nine days her son was detained, Mrs. Xa and Mr. Tho quit their jobs and stayed home waiting for news. She said she hid her tears every night, for fear of making her husband more worried, even though she knew he was also tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

"I take good care of my child, but one time I let him have fun and this happened," Mrs. Tho said, wiping away tears.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nhung-dem-chay-pho-cua-quai-xe-gen-z-va-noi-long-nguoi-lam-cha-me-20241028104516772.htm