, frequently used in the context of "ghost riding the whip" (a "whip" being a vehicle) or simply , is when a person exits their moving vehicle, and dances beside and around it. American rapper E-40's 2006 song " Tell Me When to Go" produced by Lil Jon brought mainstream attention to "ghost riding". Ghost riding is also another term used for car surfing, and the term is also occasionally used to describe a moving vehicle with no occupant, such as when a car without the hand brake applied starts to roll down an incline.Flambosting the hyphy nation
Steve Jones, USAToday.com. April 13, 2006. Last accessed January 6, 2007. The practice originated in

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

, specifically the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

. It gets its name from the fact that while the driver is dancing beside the moving vehicle, it appears that the vehicle is being driven by an invisible driver. Ghost riding is an activity that has been practiced in the San Francisco Bay Area and

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

, California for many years, during what are called sideshows.Farhi, Paul
"Ghost-Riding: Brake-Dancing With Zip Under the Hood"
'' The Washington Post'', December 27, 2006, p. C01. Accessed October 18, 2007. It is thought to have started as a trend around 2006. The popularization of ''ghost riding'' a car is a byproduct of popular Bay Area music, and the hyphy

subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, poli ...

in general, additionally it has been suggested ghost riding is a

copycat crime A copycat crime is a criminal act that is modelled after or inspired by a previous crime. It notably occurs after exposure to media content depicted said crimes, and/or a live criminal model. Copycat effect The copycat effect is the alleged tende ...

popularized by YouTube videos and online social media. Ghost riding is performed by exiting an automobile while it is left in gear. The automobile's engine runs at idle speed, slowly propelling the car forward. As with car surfing, ghost riding is dangerous and has resulted in deaths in North America.

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{{Commons category-inline Hazardous motor vehicle activities Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area 2000s fads and trends 2000s in California