Illegal car drifting displays decadent attitude
The very fact that we inevitably live in a dangerous world is what makes the presence of completely avoidable dangers all the more disturbing. “Borrowing trouble” is an expression in English that means going out of one’s way to seek out unnecessary trouble. In Saudi Arabia the illicit activity of drifting known as ‘tafheet’, where drivers force their car to slide sideways through a turn, across highway lanes and toward the barriers at high speed — certainly qualifies as borrowing trouble and has obvious dangers. The loss of control that occurs at high speed and the danger to others on the road turns the cars into lethal weapons. Add to that the great degree of peril to the driver himself and the almost inevitable damage to property, one gets an idea of social and material costs.
What is equally distressing is what this activity seems to signify. Any kind of car racing is by definition an activity of the bored, privileged and perhaps self-destructive. To put oneself and others at great risk in this way indicates a hunger for thrills, thinking this is a type of heroism — which is of course, profoundly erroneous. Rather than meeting real challenges, the street racer invents them, and their families and innocent bystanders share the expense when he fails. The fact that drifters tend to use borrowed or rented vehicles, anticipating their wreck, adds a further disturbing level of social irresponsibility.
Different forms of street racing and drifting exist worldwide, and the motivation is never much of a mystery. Most often these are young people, almost always male, who are seeking a sense of adventure and purpose otherwise lacking in their lives. Though clearly putting themselves in mortal danger, these individuals are only rarely suicidal. Rather, they seem to have a sense of unreality about the risks involved, accompanied by a false sense of invincibility.
Perhaps the computer games that are such a ubiquitous activity among the youth play a role. Studies have shown that both TV and video games can create a state of unresolved excitement and tension within the individual. The next step might be to apply what they have learned to the real world. The flaw in this plan is obvious, of course. Flesh is vulnerable where electronic ‘life’ is not.
In addition to the more obvious detriments of road racing, it is also indicative of what can only be called a decadent attitude and outlook. That this element exists in our society at all is profoundly disturbing and distressing. It suggests a lack of real purpose and a misplacement of goals. Rather than working to develop skills and benefit self and society, these young people become a real danger to themselves and others.
Clearly some sort of radical re-directing of energy is required, perhaps in the form of compulsory community service as a consequence for this dangerous activity. The thrill that these young people are seeking needs to be attained in a very different form.
@ DrAlaaGhamdi
alaaghamdi@yahoo.com
