Extremely Dangerous Activities - While driving to mine office this morning, I encountered a young man who was car surfing(1) atop a Ford pickup that had a hideously elevated suspension and enormous wheels and tires. This young man was apparently entertaining a group of young men and women traveling in a rice-burning SUV that followed behind the pickup. The passengers in the SUV were cheering loudly and encouraging the car surfer to perform increasingly dangerous stunts from his lofty stage. They appeared to consider the actions of the car surfer to be courageous. I have a label for such as he: I call them "organ donors."
(1) The term "car surfing" describes an activity in which passengers of moving vehicles perform various stunts (also known as urban surfing or ghost riding), including hanging out of the car or "surfing" on the hood, trunk, or on the roof of the vehicle while it is in motion. Car surfing has been popularized by the hyphy movement and is similar to ghost riding except that the vehicle remains under the nominal control of another person. Car surfing has caused several people to be killed during the course of such stunts. 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.
My personal opinion of those who engage in car surfing or other extremely dangerous activities is they are direly in need of psychological counseling and are not operating on a sane level. Above all, they should not be encouraged!
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Extremely Dangerous Activities
