Post by Mr.Niikolaus on Jul 25, 2010 21:20:12 GMT 8
Main Article
The film shows six riders descending the Bombay Hills on one of the country's busiest stretches of road, State Highway 1, just south of Auckland.
The camera, attached to a helmet, records the rider gathering speed, passing three others, and moving into the left lane to overtake a lorry, for which the open road speed limit is 56mph.
The rider passes a skateboarder who is not wearing shoes, before taking an off-ramp and coming to a halt where the gradient flattens out into the Waikato plains, about 1.5 miles from where he started.
A blogger came across the video, posted on Facebook by Andrew Chapman, a Canadian, and this week put it on YouTube where it has become a popular hit.
The group travelled around the North Island on the extended skateboards, known as longboards, for two weeks during New Zealand's summer.
Shown the video, amazed police officers in Auckland described their actions as "incredibly stupid" and "idiotic".
Superintendent John Kelly said: "What concerns me is the speed they get up to and the lack of control they have got.
"They've got no brakes. If something goes wrong in front of them, they're terribly exposed to risk."
Another experienced traffic officer, Sergeant Stu Kearns, said: "Anyone using a skateboard on a road like that has a death wish."
At the top of the Bombay Hills heading south from Auckland, State Highway 1 ceases to be classified as a motorway and becomes an expressway, meaning pedestrians and cyclists are permitted to use it.
Although skateboarders are defined as pedestrians, police say they could be charged with careless driving or failing to keep left.
The hills, named after the ship Bombay, which landed in Auckland carrying European settlers in 1863, reach 1,235ft at their highest point.
