Kids, teens and even adults are addicted to so-called “challenges” on TikTok, the popular social media site, that encourages them to do all kinds of nutty things, sometimes dangerous, sometimes illegal, and at times deadly.
Police in Buffalo, New York reported that a car crash that killed four teens and injured two on October 24 was due to what is being called a “Kia Challenge.”
The teens killed were Marcus Webster, 19, Swazine Swindle, 17, Kevin Payne, 16, and Ahjanae Harper, 14.
The driver of the vehicle, 16, was treated at the hospital and released, and another passenger, a 14-year-old girl, was listed in good condition at a hospital.
The vehicle was stolen on Sunday night, and the driver was charged with the theft and will face the judge in November.
The Kia challenge began in July and featured TikTok videos that showed car thieves stealing Kia (and Hyundai) vehicles, and showed how to use a USB cord to start the car ignition.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia spoke at a press conference on Monday, and referred to these videos as the culprit in the Buffalo accident.
Information about the so-called “challenge” was published on Newsweek and the New York Post online, and other media sources, and a search for Kia Challenge, or associated hashtags, reveals thousands of people who claim to have been victims of the challenge, or who are talking and posting videos about it. However, according to insider.com, there is no evidence that there is currently a real Kia challenge that gives instructions for starting a car ignition, or encourages anyone to steal a vehicle.
The original video that showed how to hot-wire a car has been removed from TikTok.
The police department in Buffalo, however, believes that TikTok encouraged the accident that killed the teens.
The hashtags #KiaBoys and #KiaBoyz both have over 25 million views, indicating that the topic is very popular.
Some videos show people stealing cars.
Certainly, police departments across the country have been alerted to the existence of a car-theft challenge, and are on the lookout.
At the end of August, the Los Angeles Police Department tweeted that Kia and Hyundai thefts had increased significantly over the past year, and referred to the TikTok “challenge” as a current influence on teenagers.