Treat car drifting as a crime

LOCAL VIEWPOINT

By Muhammad Al-Ehaidib
Okaz Newspaper
 

TRAFFIC police chiefs come and go and yet the dilemma of car drifting still exists. Drifting should be treated as a serious offense and not simply a traffic violation. Recently two young Saudis were killed in a terrible drifting accident in Riyadh. Many others in the past lost their lives in similar accidents, occasionally taking innocent bystanders with them.

Ex-drifters revealed some secrets about this addiction in television and press interviews. They claim that there is a hero-worship relationship between drifters and their young admirers. They also revealed detailed plans and tricks on how to avoid traffic officials.
Drifters do not, for the most part, use family cars anymore. They go for stolen cars, trashing them completely before abandoning them somewhere. This is why I state that drifting should be classified as a crime.

I also want to know why the Traffic Department is reluctant to put an end to this crime. Are they underestimating its dangers which also involve innocent people getting killed during the process? Is it because many of the drifters have high connections? Or is the Traffic Department simply not fit to handle such crimes?

A friend of mine got his car stolen and for two days he was receiving Saher violations on his mobile phone. Saher was vigorously monitoring the vehicle and yet no one was interfering to impound it.