PESHAWAR: Residents of Hayatabad and Regi Model Town (RMT) here have complained that the police have failed to curb the dangerous practice of car drifting and dragging by youth, which poses a serious threat not only to their own lives but also those travelling on roads.

They said these youngsters had modified their old cars with heavy engines fitted to them.

They said they had lodged several complaints with the police, but the latter had yet to launch a result-oriented crackdown on the adventure-seeking youngsters.

It is to mention here that two persons were killed and three others wounded in what locals alleged was a car race on Monday.

The residents said around 40 to 50 youngsters between 15 to 25 years of age, mostly belonging to well-off families, gathered on a special track in RMT, Phase-6 of Hayatabad and main Jamrud Road opposite the Phase-3 of Hayatabad after 10pm on weekends and indulged in the stunts. They said youngsters from not only the provincial capital and the adjoining areas but also from Islamabad joined the car drifting and dragging ‘competitions’.

“We usually race or drift inside RMT on a special track or on Jamrud Road, where fewer people drive after 10pm, that too on weekends,” said Naeem Khan, a 25-year-old resident of Warsak Road, who has modified his 1994 model Suzuki Khyber.

He said as he worked at his father’s factory all the week, so car drifting and dragging was the only source of entertainment for him. “We block all the U-turns on Jamrud Road so that nobody enters the racing-route, making it safer for racers and those who travel on the road in routine,” Khan told Dawn. He said the activity continued for only two or three hours.

According to city traffic police, a special unit has been formed to patrol the area after 10pm to curb the dangerous practice since duty hours of the traffic police were between 7am to 10pm.

“These youngsters start car racing and drifting as soon as the duty hours of traffic police end at 10pm,” chief traffic officer Qamar Hayat said, adding, however, that the special unit would not allow the youngsters to do stunts on roads.

He said the traffic police had arrested dozens of motorcyclists involved in one-wheeling on the Northern Bypass.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2023