A 10-year-old boy is in critical condition after he was car surfing on a vehicle driven by his parents.
On April 5, police in California City, California received a call about the boy, who was run over by the vehicle after he fell from the top of it, 23 ABC reported.
The boy was taken to a children’s hospital in Los Angeles. A friend of the family said via 23 ABC that the boy has two broken shoulders, a broken pelvis, fractured ribs, and will need surgery.
Doctors have found internal bleeding but are unsure where it is coming from. The friend said the boy has no spinal injury, and his brain activity is fine.
Police are still investigating, and have not charged his parents with any crime, KGET reported.
Witnesses say the boy fell forward off the front of the car and was dragged underneath.
Car Surfing Causes Death
Last year a 15-year-old from Long Island, New York, died after car surfing on an Uber vehicle.
According to Today, Ryan Mullen was surfing on the Uber car as a social media stunt and sent out the video of the fatal act via Snapchat. He and some friends had reportedly been drinking. They paid an Uber driver $40 to let them surf on the car.
Instead of getting medical help, the Uber driver took the teens to a sleepover party, from which Mullen never woke up.
“Words cannot describe how deeply troubled we are by this incident. Our thoughts are with Ryan’s family during this difficult time,” said Uber, in a statement obtained by Today.
The driver of the Uber pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. He no longer works for Uber and his license was suspended.
Snapchat responded with a statement, via Today:
“Our hearts go out to those affected by this tragic accident. No snap or video is more important than your own safety and the safety of others.”
Anyone under 18 years old is not allowed to have an Uber account and should not have access to the service or the ability to request rides, according to Today. Anyone under 18 would need to be accompanied by an adult to ride in an Uber vehicle.
Car surfing is not a new trend among young people. A CDC report says the term originated in the mid 1980’s. From 1990 through August 2008, the report says 58 people died and 41 suffered nonfatal injuries from car surfing.
A variation on the car surfing trend, called “ghost riding” emerged in the northern California hip hop scene. Music videos showed people dancing around and on top of slow moving vehicles. A popular music video showing the practice was banned from MTV after people died following the trend, The Washington Post reported.
“It’s all about self-expression. Or possibly cheap thrills. Or maybe the ever-popular youthful flirtation with bone-breaking, brain-damaging injury. A young man in Stockton, Calif., for example, died this month when he hit his head on a parked car while attempting what police said was a ghost–riding maneuver, according to news reports,” The Washington Post wrote.
A 15-year-old Kansas teen was hospitalized on April 7 after a different type of car surfing. He and a friend were hanging onto both sides of a car while drifting on skateboards.
He hung onto an open window while a 16-year-old friend drove the vehicle. Another 15-year-old was drifting on the other side of the car, but he was not hurt, KWCH reported.
The injured teen may have hit a crack in the ground on his skateboard, causing him to lose control, witnesses told KWCH. They said the teen was not wearing a helmet or other safety gear.
“He was bleeding really bad—losing a lot of blood. My dad was giving him CPR trying to give him some chest compressions but he wasn’t responding,” said Carlos Rivera, a witness, via KWCH.
