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That Lug Nut Challenge on TikTok? It's Dangerous, Illegal and Stupid

Aftermarket alloy wheel with custom lug nuts 20 photos
Photo: Erik McLean on Pexels.com
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A new challenge reportedly hit TikTok, and it appears to be the most dangerous one so far. Unlike previous ones, the "Lug Nut Challenge" involves loosening or removing the lug nuts on a bystanders’ vehicle, then filming the result.
As you can imagine, doing this is dangerous and illegal. While we are not lawyers and this is not legal advice, messing with someone else’s vehicle without permission is considered tampering in many countries. Removing or loosening lug nuts on someone's car means endangering the life of that person, as well as the lives of other road users.

News about the challenge came from a local news outlet in Chicopee, Massachusetts, where a viewer called in to announce that a relative was a victim of the dangerous challenge. The news channel then contacted a towing company, whose representantives stated that there was a spike in lug nut-related towing incidents. According to Stephen Gonneville, the Operations Manager of the Interstate Towing company, the firm had fixed several vehicles that fell victim to the reported challenge.

While an alleged victim of the prank had a wheel fall off while driving, there were no serious consequences reported. Unlike previous social media challenges, we are struggling to find evidence of the Lug Nut Challenge, so the problem might not be as widespread as indicated by other websites. That is why we suggest taking the news of this challenge with a grain of salt.

Previous TikTok challenges became viral within hours, while this one seems to be something that just happened in Massachusetts, and news of it went viral around the world as if it were happening everywhere.

A good example of a popular challenge on TikTok was the Kiki Challenge, which was started from a Drake song. The challenge involved getting out of a moving car, dancing with the passenger door open, and then getting back in the vehicle while someone is filming.

As usual, whenever we write about trends like these, we suggest using your judgment and refraining from doing challenges as you might have seen on the Internet. Removing or loosening someone's lug nuts is insanely dangerous, and those who get caught doing something like this will face undesired consequences.

If you want to be extra sure you will not be a victim of the Lug Nut Challenge, we recommend using a set of security lug nuts. These are locked with a key and cannot be removed by someone without tools. This type of lug nut is also a good theft deterrent, mind you, so this is a great reason to spring for a set of quality ones. Keep the key safe and always have a copy in your car, or else you will regret the decision when you get a flat tire, though.
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Editor's note: Photo gallery shows various types of rims for illustration purposes.

About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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