After American comedian Shiggy posted a video of himself dancing next to his moving car to Drake’s song “In My Feelings,” a dangerous world wide phenomenon known as the “Kiki challenge” or the “In My Feelings challenge” was born. The social media craze has already caused a number of accidents and injuries. Police across the world have been cracking down on the growing trend. The Kiki challenge shows that people are literally willing to jump out of a moving vehicle into traffic just to get likes on social media.
What Is the Kiki Challenge
To participate in the challenge, you have to jump out of a moving car and dance along side it as Drake sings “Kiki, do you love me? Are you riding? Say you’ll never ever leave from beside me.” Of course, you then have to post the video on social media. While the dangerous stunt began in the US, it has since spread across the world.
After Shiggy’s video went viral, “In My Feelings” skyrocketed to number one of the charts. Drake can hardly complain about the social media craze, since the song wasn’t even suppose to be released as a single.
The craze grew even more after Will Smith posted a video of himself dancing to Drake’s song on top of a bridge crossing the Danube river in Budapest, while Ciara and her husband dancing along in Cape Town South Africa.
Kiki Challenge Gone Wrong
As of Tuesday, more than 400,000 thousand videos had been posted to Instagram under the #InMyFeelingsChallenge hashtag. Some of these participants have been injured or run over. One American teen ended up with a brain injury after attempting the Kiki challenge in a roundabout.
“We were over by the round-about, and I thought it would be a fun idea to do the Keke Challenge,” Anna Worden explained. “The last thing I remember was opening the door. So apparently I got out and tripped and fell and hit my head.”
She then ended up in the intensive care unit with blood clots, a fractured skull, and bleeding in her brain. The 18 year old is recovering from her injuries, but doctors are unsure of how well she will recover from the significant brain trauma.
Another woman was robbed while dancing. One video shows a man being hit by a car while attempting to join in on the social media craze.
Police Response
With a slew of injuries and traffic disturbances caused by the challenge, police around the world have issued warnings and fines. In Florida, those who try the Kiki challenge will face a $1000 dollar fine and criminal charges. Police in Mumbai issued a statement saying, “Desist from public nuisance or face the music!”
Turkish singer and actress Hulya Avsar participated in the craze by posting her Kiki challenge on Instagram. She will now face fines in Turkey for endangering traffic, but with 3 million views the damage from the video is already done. In Egypt, those caught could be imprisoned for up to a year for obstructing traffic. In the UAE, authorities have ordered the arrest of three social media personalities for participating in the craze. According to reports, a woman was arrested in Saudi Arabia after trying out the Kiki challenge this weekend.
In Israel, politician Moshe Kahlon posted a video of himself dancing to Drake’s hit alongside his moving car. He has since come under fire from authorities and has deleted the video.
In the US, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) tweeted:
“We have some thoughts about the #InMyFeelings challenge. #Distraction in any mode is dangerous & can be deadly. Whether you are a #driver, #pilot, or #operator, focus on safely operating your vehicle. Read more on this #NTSBmwl issue: https://ntsb.gov/safety/mwl/Pages/mwl8-2017-18.aspx … #MWLMonday”
