Tafheet

2025-10-19T13:14:49Z

2001:4C4E:1CA6:5F00:58FB:56E2:313D:82CB: Added an info

{{Short description|Illegal street racing-like subculture in Saudi Arabia}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2014}}
'''Tafheet''' ({{langx|ar|تَفْحِيط}}), or popularly '''hajwalah''' ({{lang|ar|هَجْوَلَة}}),{{efn|Also spelled Hagwalah or Hagwallah.}} (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 {{cvt|160|–|260|km/h|round=5}}, across wide highways [[fishtailing|throwing the car left and right]] to mimic the appearance of [[drifting (motorsport)|drifting]]. In the process, drivers often drive dangerously close to traffic, barriers, and spectators watching from the roadsides without any protection.<ref name=Salopek>{{cite web |url=http://outofedenwalk.nationalgeographic.com/2013/09/27/drifting/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930100201/http://outofedenwalk.nationalgeographic.com/2013/09/27/drifting/|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 30, 2013|title=Drifting|last=Salopek|first=Paul|date=27 September 2013|work=[[National Geographic Society]]|accessdate=12 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Meehan |first=Sumayyah |title=The 'Arab Drift' |periodical=Muslim Media Network |year=2008 |url=http://muslimmedianetwork.com/mmn/?p=1730 |accessdate=2009-11-10 |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130129185109/http://muslimmedianetwork.com/mmn/?p=1730 |archivedate=2013-01-29 }}</ref><ref name=Alammar>{{cite news |url=http://www.arabnews.com/columns/news/654081|title=The dangerous culture of drifting in Kingdom|last=Alammar|first=Ibraheem|date=3 November 2014|work=[[Arab News]]|accessdate=12 July 2016}}</ref><ref name=nfsarab>{{cite news |url=http://english.alarabiya.net/en/life-style/entertainment/2014/03/25/Action-packed-Need-for-Speed-movie-proves-a-hit-in-car-crazy-Arab-world.html|title=Need for Speed? Indeed, say Arab film fans|date=25 March 2014|work=[[Al Arabiya]]|accessdate=12 July 2016}}</ref>

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.<ref name=Menoret>{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21602986-motors-and-mayhem-saudi-arabia-fast-and-furious|title=Fast and furious: Motors and mayhem in Saudi Arabia|last=Menoret|first=Pascal|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|accessdate=12 July 2016}}</ref> 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 the spectators.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-02-24 |title=Video: Three hit by drifter in Saudi Arabia |url=https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/saudi/video-three-hit-by-drifter-in-saudi-arabia-1.1678301 |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=gulfnews.com |language=en}}</ref>

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.<ref name=Salopek/>

==Culture==
Some of the more popular tafheet maneuvers include:

* Akheyat: turning the car 180 degrees from side to another completing a full 360 by starting from the right to the left or opposite
* Harakat Al-Mawt (Death movements): power slides where one must keep the car going on forward in a straight line until the car stops by itself without fixing the steer or going off track
* Sefty: spinning the car a full 360 degrees starting from any side and then spinning the opposite side of the first 360 with a short power slide between
* Ta'geed: spinning the car a full 360 degrees while driving either straight or sideways more than once
* Tanteel: repeatedly creating a power slide and steering it back with [[opposite lock]] at high speed {{cvt|160|–|260|km/h|round=5}}, starting with 4 or more power slides and usually concluded with Ta'geed, Sefty, or Axeyat. It is also considered the main maneuver.
* Tatweef: passing another vehicle, truck, or more going sideways at very high speed up to {{cvt|160|km/h|round=5}} on a public highway no matter how busy the traffic is

The cars are generally stock mid-size or entry-level luxury sedans, such as the [[Toyota Camry]], [[Kia Optima]], [[Chevrolet Cruze]], [[Kia Cadenza]], [[Honda Accord]], [[Chevrolet Caprice]], [[Hyundai Sonata]], or any other vehicles they could get their hands on, minimizing personal cost and repair liability.<ref name=nfsarab/> While there have been instances involving high-end vehicles such as [[Rolls-Royce Phantom VII|Rolls-Royces]], [[Ferrari]]s and [[Nissan GT-R]]s, these are relatively less common compared to [[joyride (crime)|joyriders]] stealing [[sedan (automobile)|sedans]] or compact cars for the purpose of drifting, abandoning them after an event.<ref name=Alammar/>

SUVs and pickup trucks, most notably the [[Toyota Land Cruiser]] family (both the [[Toyota Land Cruiser (J200)|modern]] and [[Toyota Land Cruiser (J70)|classic]] variants), are sometimes used for this purpose.

Sociologists and criminologists in the region cite what is locally known as ''"tufush"'', roughly translating to idleness or desperation, indicating "the lack of recreational activities that might interest them", hence why many young Saudis turn to the extreme underground sport despite both safety risks and law enforcement reprisals.<ref name="Asmar1">{{Cite web |last=Asmar |first=Marwan |date=2016-11-02 |title=Saudi authorities crack down on ‘tafheet’ |url=https://gulfnews.com/lifestyle/saudi-authorities-crack-down-on-tafheet-1.1922905 |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=[[Gulf News]] |language=en}}</ref>

==Response==
Often, reports about high-speed drifting from concerned citizens demanding arrest are submitted because of the risk to public safety. Drifters are rarely caught as tafheet events are organised using illegal [[Spotter (auto racing)|spotter]]s; if they were, investigations often prove fruitless. Occasionally, police attempt to intercept them but are chased away by both them and spectators. When drifting activities were at its peak, Saudi Arabia had one of the highest traffic accident death tolls in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-21 |title=Saudi Arabia records 40% fall in traffic accident fatalities in a decade |url=http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/article/637956 |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=Saudigazette |language=English}}</ref>

In March 2014, Ahmad Shtewi Al-Ruwaili (born 1992), nicknamed "King Al-Nazeem", was sentenced to ten years in prison and 1,000 [[Human rights in Saudi Arabia#Corporal punishment|lashes]] for a series of drifting and firearms offenses in [[Riyadh]] and [[Al-Qassim Province]].<ref name="10 March 2014">{{cite web |last1=Al-Shabrawi |first1=Adnan |title=Car drifter gets 10 years, 1,000 lashes |url=http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20140311198233 |work=[[Saudi Gazette]] |accessdate=29 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403021810/http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20140311198233 |archivedate=3 April 2015 }}</ref> He died on 23 September 2016, aged 23, when his car spun off and flipped over while drifting on a highway.<ref>{{cite web |title=Get the drift: Top stuntman succumbs to fatal addiction |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/989381/saudi-arabia |work=[[Arab News]] |date=25 September 2016 |accessdate=26 May 2025 }}</ref>

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.<ref name="Asmar1"/>

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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-05-07 |title=Saher cameras help reduce traffic deaths by more than 37% |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1095606/saudi-arabia |access-date=2024-03-23 |website=Arab News |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Street racing]]
* [[Boy racer]]
* [[Hoon]]
* [[Mat Rempit]]
* [[Ah Beng]]
* [[Street racing#Japan|Touge]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* Abdullah Aldawsari, ''Investigating 'tafheet' as a Unique Driving Style Behaviour,'' 2016, Montfort University<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Investigating Tafheet as a Unique Driving Style Behaviour |url=https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/2086/12074/Final%20Phd%20Thesis%20Abdullah%20Aldawsari%202016.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |access-date= |website=}}</ref>
*Suhasini Ramisetty-Mikler, Abdulkarim Almakadma, ''Attitudes and behaviors towards risky driving among adolescents in Saudi Arabia'', International Journal of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 2016<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ramisetty-Mikler|first1=Suhasini|last2=Almakadma|first2=Abdulkarim|date=2016-06-01|title=Attitudes and behaviors towards risky driving among adolescents in Saudi Arabia|journal=International Journal of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine|volume=3|issue=2|pages=55–63|doi=10.1016/j.ijpam.2016.03.003|pmid=30805469|pmc=6372423|issn=2352-6467}}</ref>
*Pascal Menoret, ''Joyriding In Riyadh Oil Urbanism And Road Revolt'', Cambridge University Press, 2014
*Salameh Ahmad Sawalah, Talal M. Abu-Mansour, Nesreen Mosa Al-Salem & Mohammad Luay M. Shaban, ''Steering speed suspension device (triple "S" device), to prevent burnouts-tafheet phenomena'', IASET, 2013<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Salameh Ahmad Sawalha |author2=Talal M. Abu- Mansour |author3=Nesreen Mosa Al-Salem |author4=Mohammad Luay M. Shaban |title=Steering Speed Suspension Device (Triple "S" Device), to Prevent Burnouts –Tafheet Phenomena |journal=International Journal of Mechanical Engineering |date=September 2013 |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=1-8 |issn=2319-2240}}</ref>
*Imed Ben Dhaou, ''An electronic system to combat drifting and traffic noises on Saudi roads'', Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2012<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dhaou|first=I. Ben|title=2012 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium |chapter=An electronic system to combat drifting and traffic noises on Saudi roads |date=June 2012|pages=217–222|doi=10.1109/IVS.2012.6232118|isbn=978-1-4673-2118-1|s2cid=15532109}}</ref>

[[Category:Drifting (motorsport)]]
[[Category:Hazardous motor vehicle activities]]
[[Category:Culture of Saudi Arabia]]
[[Category:Colloquial terms]]
[[Category:20th-century neologisms]]
[[Category:Arabic words and phrases]]

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Tafheet