Arab drifting goes mainstream

Arab drifting, or Hagwalah, is one of the most bizarre gifts that the YouTube phenomenon has graced the world with in the last 10 years or so.

A quick 'arab drifting' search will result in a huge array of amateur films of the practice, which generally involves hurtling a car from high speed, along a motorway into a number of spins until it comes to rest.

These manoeuvres are only vaguely controlled by the drivers, and often result in collisions, rollovers, and vehicle disintegration. They are also often accompanied by jubilant machine gun fire from passengers.

These films make for fascinating viewing to western society, leaving one wondering 'how on earth do they get away with that?!'

See here and here for typical examples.

Another bizarre element of the footage is that the vehicles are generally mid-sized passenger sedans such as Honda Accords, Hyundai Sonatas and Toyota Camrys, with the odd Chevrolet Caprice (nee Holden Statesman) also. This contrasts with the traditional hoon video subjects which are generally modified or powerful, or at least vaguely interesting.

The practice is indeed illegal, and is generally undertaken on motorways populated by other innocent motorists. Several of the videos portray police attempting to halt the activity also.

There must be a degree of planning behind the pursuit of arab drifting, as the videos often feature large crowds gathered at the roadside. Disturbingly, the vehicles often career into these crowds, no doubt resulting in fatalities.

British pop artist M.I.A has now brought Hagwalah to the mainstream via her new music clip for the single Bad Girls.

The clip features several Hagwalah manoeuvres being undertaken by admittedly unconventional 3-Series BMWs and an Alfa 156, with lyrics that bear no real relevance to the activity.

Nonetheless, stay tuned for it to form the backing music of choice for future Hagwalah videos.