MT CLEMENS, Mich. (WXYZ) — The Macomb County Sheriff's Office is warning the public after seeing an uptick of "car surfing" incidents on social media, a trend that can be deadly.
Car surfing is exactly what it sounds like: a person rides on the outside of a moving vehicle while another person drives the vehicle.
The Sheriff's Office said they'd responded to three Car surfing incidents in the past month, all of which resulted in hospitalizations.
- Friday, June 21: Deputies responded to an incident in a parking lot in the 59000 block of Gratiot after a teen fell off the roof of a Kia Optima driven by another teen. The teen that fell was hospitalized for a non-life threatening head laceration, while the teen driving the car was charged with Reckless Driving
- Friday, July 19: First responders went to treat a teen that fell off the roof of a Ford Escape driven by another teen at Iroquois Middle School. The injured teen fractured their skull and suffered from brain bleed, but is stable as of Monday afternoon. The teen driver was put in jail for OWI causing serious injury and reckless driving.
- Sunday, July 21: Deputies responded after a teen was injured while car surfing at Romeo High School, who fell off the roof of a Dodge Challenger driven by another teen. The driver in this case admitted they were car surfing and got a ticket for Reckless Driving. The teen who fell off the car is in stable condition after suffering injuries to his head and ear.
The Sheriff's Office says that drivers who participate in this trend could be charged with Reckless Driving, Third Degree Assault, Reckless Endangerment, Vehicular Assault and Vehicular Homicide, among others.
“The MCSO takes these incidents of “car surfing” very seriously,” said Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham via statement. “These participants do not seem to realize that they become projectiles, hitting cement or asphalt at 30-50 miles an hour. No matter what condition these individuals are in, their bodies are just not designed to take that much trauma.”
