Car surfing
{{Short description|Act of riding on a moving vehicle}}
{{For|the car-sharing model of vehicle rental|Carsharing}}
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Car surfing involves riding on the outside of a moving vehicle being driven by another person. It has resulted in numerous deaths, predominantly causing severe head injuries.[https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5741a2.htm CDC - Injuries Resulting from Car Surfing - United States, 1990-2008]
The Quebec Provincial Automobile Insurance Company defines car surfing as follows:{{Cite web |url=http://www.saaq.gouv.qc.ca/en/road_safety/behaviour/racing_surfing/index.php |title=Street Racing and Car Surfing | Driver's Licence | SAAQ |access-date=2014-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811111037/http://www.saaq.gouv.qc.ca/en/road_safety/behaviour/racing_surfing/index.php |archive-date=2014-08-11 |url-status=dead }}
- Riding on a moving vehicle (on the roof, at the rear, on the side, etc.);
- Riding in the box or cargo space of a truck or pick-up truck;
- Holding onto or being pulled by a moving vehicle;
- Riding in a sofa, on a skateboard, a sled or any other object hitched or tied to a moving vehicle.
History
Car surfing, a term introduced in the mid-1980s, involves riding on the outside of a moving vehicle being driven by another person. It has been popularized by the hyphy movement seen in the fad of ghost-riding, except the vehicle remains under the nominal control of another person.
Risks
A 2008 study by the United States Centers for Disease Control identified 58 newspaper reports of car-surfing deaths and 41 reports of nonfatal injury from 1990 through summer 2008. Most reports of injury were found in U.S. Midwest and Southern newspapers (75%), largely involving males (70%) and youths aged 15–19 (69%). A majority (58%) of reported car surfing incidents ended in death.
See also
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References
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External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20051106211809/http://safetycenter.navy.mil/media/seashore/issues/spring05/anotherdumb.htm The origins and risks of car surfing] (Naval Safety Center)
- [http://news.spong.com/article/18682/Grand-Theft-Auto-Blamed-for-Increase-in-Car-Surfing-Deaths GTA blamed for Increase in car surfing deaths]
Category:Hazardous motor vehicle activities