What’s the Big Deal About 'Likes'... American Teens Racing Above the Subway

US Trend of 'Surfing on Moving Subway Roofs'
Youth Deaths Follow... "Truly Horrific"
Experts: "Done to Gain Views and Likes"

As the so-called 'subway surfing'?riding on top of moving subway trains?becomes popular among American teenagers, related fatal accidents are rapidly increasing.

According to foreign media such as ABC and The New York Times (NYT) on the 21st (local time), a 15-year-old boy fell to his death while allegedly 'surfing' on top of a subway train crossing the Williamsburg Bridge in New York the previous day.

New York Mayor Eric Adams described the incident as "truly horrific and tragic" and said, "We will inform other young people about how dangerous 'subway surfing' is."

[Image source=Pixabay]

'Subway surfing' is known as a kind of play mimicking the mobile game 'Subway Surfers,' where participants climb onto moving trains and perform stunts as if surfing. 'Subway Surfers' is a game set on subway tracks where players run while avoiding obstacles to reach the farthest distance possible.

Previously, in December last year, a 15-year-old boy died while subway surfing near Brooklyn, New York. The boy boarded a Manhattan-bound subway, climbed onto the train's roof, and fell to his death.

Recently, deaths caused by subway surfing have been increasing in the United States. New York transportation authorities reported that such cases rose more than fourfold from 206 in 2021 to 928 in 2022.

Foreign media pointed out that the popularity of subway surfing is related to social networking services (SNS). It is explained that people engage in bolder behavior to gain popularity on platforms like TikTok. A psychology professor at the University of Denver noted, "People increasingly engage in irrational behavior to get more 'views' and 'likes.'"

As controversy arose, some videos related to subway surfing were reportedly removed from TikTok. TikTok stated, "User safety and well-being are TikTok's top priorities," adding, "We do not allow content that encourages dangerous behavior that could lead to injury."