CALIFORNIA, USA — Officials in nearly two dozen states, including California, are demanding two major car companies take action as a soon as possible in response to what they called a crisis of car thefts.
"Nightly, our deputies are out there not only responding to the regular calls for service but are now coming across these kids that are stealing cars, joyriding, driving around," said Sgt. Amar Gandhi.
According to Sacramento county deputies, it's all thanks to social media.
"There has been a TikTok challenge that a lot of these kids are engaging in, specifically dealing with Hyundais and Kias. It seems like one or two a night that we are catching, and these are all under age, all minors that are going through and stealing these cars with relatively no effort," said Gandhi.
California joined other states in demanding the two car companies take action.
They pointed out Hyundai and Kia cars made between 2011 and 2021 do not have anti-theft technology.
Hyundai and Kia said they have contacted customers on the issues. Hyundai said they have a new program with AAA to insure impacted vehicles.
The company also said Hyundai has "expedited the roll out of the free anti-theft software upgrade for affected vehicles. All of the nearly 4 million vehicles involved will be eligible for the upgrade, two months ahead of the original schedule. The software upgrade is designed to prevent the vehicles from starting during a method of theft popularized on TikTok and other social media channels."
Meanwhile law enforcement has a message for parents.
"We really need parents, especially now with the weather getting better, spring break, summer vacation coming up, you've got to keep tabs on what your kids are doing," said Gandhi.
WATCH ALSO:
ABC10: Watch, Download, Read
