Drifting Arab Style
 This
is typical Saudi fun on the road.
The preferred scene, as in the video clip, is two strips of bitumen,
separated by a few metres of unpaved dirt (pale stuff in centre),
generally regarded as divided road, sometimes with light poles in the
centre (not in this case). Lengths of road like this are common in Saudi
in suburban areas, and can be quite long - from 1 to 5km is not
uncommon. They may have residences (within 2.5m walls), or shops on the
sides, sometimes set back 3-5m from the road.
The event starts with a few of the lads gathering and traffic not
being too dense (usually 14:00 to 16:00 after school gets out), they run
the cars up to 100 to 120kph and throw them into drifts with a bit hand
brake and see how long they can keep them going sideways.
Hitting pedestrians is bad form but cars or buildings are fair game.
They used to do this outside our compound regularly and despite repeated
calls the Police were not too interested in dissuading them unless
somebody got hurt.
Occasionally a newcomer would get carried away, and roll Daddy's new
Explorer or Suburban. I may be wrong but I think the crowd all over the
car at the end are congratulating the driver rather than berating him.
Note passengers on board. Enjoy, John Pitman.
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