The #inmyfeelings car dancing challenge is raising concerns of serious injuries

Kaylee Fagan / Business
Insider

Just when you think the internet can’t get any weirder, it always
does.

A recent internet trend is inspiring drivers all over the world
to jump out of moving vehicles and dance in the street while a
friend in the passenger seat films, and now transpiration
officials and law enforcement are starting to speak out against
the dangerous fad.

The viral phenomenon is called the #InMyFeelings Challenge, and
is the latest — and possibly most dangerous — of the viral video
dares, similar to the Cinnamon Challenge (which led to hundreds
of teenagers eating a spoonful of pure cinnamon) or the Mannequin
Challenge (in which a room full of people hold perfectly still
while a moving camera person pans over each). 

The challenge, sometimes also known as the #Keke, has caught the
attention of social media users everywhere, along with cable news
outlets like ABC
and talk shows like Kelly and Ryan
and The
View, and is starting to be called out by law enforcement all
over the country. 

Police Chief Joseph Solomon of Methuen, Massachusetts
told CBS: “It’s
only a matter of time before someone gets sucked into
the wheels of the car or dragged or the driver who is
recording it with their phone hits somebody crossing the
street.”

Fads like these always have a few iterations, but the videos all
feature a short dance routine accompanied by the song “In my
Feelings” from Drake’s latest album, “Scorpion,” released July
29th. The dance was pioneered by online personality and comedian
Shiggy, who posted this video of himself dancing in the street on
Instagram the same night the song was released:

The clip went viral, and countless fans and viewers
— including celebrities like Will Smith,
Ciara,
and DJ
Khaled — decided to imitate the stunt by dancing in
increasingly impressive locations and under dangerous
circumstances.

At some point, the challenge most commonly began to include
people slowing their cars to a crawl, and then encouraging their
friends to hop out and dance alongside the vehicle.

Here’s Jung “J-Hope” Ho-seok, a member of the
South Korean boy band BTS, doing the challenge in its most
commonly seen form:

Things took a turn for the worst when people started upping the
ante, as always happens with internet challenges like these.
People started doing the dance after hopping out of the driver’s
seat, and simply letting the car roll. 

Here’s YouTube Creator Liza Koshy, performing the dangerous
stunt, along with some extra theatrics:

It’s easy to imagine how this can go really wrong really fast. As
a result of the challenge, there are now many videos of people
falling on pavement, causing car accidents, and getting hit by
oncoming vehicles on YouTube.

Connecticut State Police called the practice “distracted
driving” and said it could lead to a reckless endangerment charge
if a driver is caught in the act, according to
FOX21.

Even the National Transportation Safety Board posted a
warning about the challenge on their official Twitter early this
week: