User:Formula23/Tafheet

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Tafheet (تفحيط), or hajwalah (هجولة), (colloquially known as Arab drifting or Saudi drifting), is a type of street racing-like subculture believed to have started in the late 1970s in Saudi Arabia, that involves driving cars that are generally non-modified or factory-setup (sometimes stolen or rented cars) at very high speeds, around 160 –, across wide highways throwing the car left and right to mimic the appearance of drifting. In the process, drivers often drive dangerously close to traffic, barriers, and spectators watching from the roadsides without any protection.

Tafheet driver practice and events are generally seen on the wide sectioned highways of Riyadh, Al-Qassim Province and, less notably, in other parts of Saudi Arabia. In the United Arab Emirates, tafheet are commonly seen on the highways of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which also feature long straightaways.

Apart from the risk involved for the drivers, the spectators are also at a high risk of injury or possible death. Unfortunately, sometimes the drivers would lose control of their vehicle and drive into other road users, or worse the spectators.

The technique differs from high-speed cornering on tracks as cars drift sideways at high speed and recover with opposite lock. Tafheet practice and events occur with little or no concern for vehicle occupants, other drivers, or spectator safety, and as a result there often are fatal accidents. (Copied from Tafheet)

Response
Often the police receive reports about high-speed drifting from concerned citizens demanding an arrest because of the risk to public safety. The drifters are rarely caught as the events are organised using an illegal spotter or spotters who use mobile phones to disband the vehicle activity before the police arrive on the scene. Although the police response is rapid, investigations often prove fruitless; generally, the spectators and drivers have left or are dispersing into regular traffic when the police arrive. Videos of tafheet events are often uploaded to the Internet to be seen by the spectators and drivers. Occasionally, police attempt to intercept the drivers but are chased away by both the drivers and spectators.

At the peak of reckless driving, Saudi Arabia had one of the highest car-caused death tolls in the world.

In March 2014, a 23-year-old Saudi nicknamed "The King of Nazeem Neighborhood" was sentenced to ten years in prison and 1,000 lashes for a series of car drifting and firearms offenses in Riyadh and Al-Qassim Province. The drifter was also banned from driving for life.

To combat this, academies and leagues have since been established by professional racers in the region, in an effort to mitigate illegal street drifting incidents and to educate youths against the dangers of such activities, encouraging them instead to participate in officially sanctioned events. (Copied from Tafheet)

With the Saudi government eager to end this life-endangering activity, the police needed to come up with a prompt solution. Speed limit cameras and GPS tracking systems began to roll out nationwide to ease apprehending the street drifters and enforcing stricter sanctions on reckless driving, among several measures taken by Saudi Arabia.