Longboarders take on Wellington hill

Jestah Carnie, who was one of the longboarders who tackled the Bombay Hills. Photo / Dean Purcell

A group of longboarders filmed riding dangerously on an Auckland expressway have reappeared breaking road rules on a busy Wellington road, with one rider squeezing between a truck and the footpath before swerving in front of the vehicle.

Facebook footage - discovered by the Herald - shows about six longboarders, including the cameraman, setting off down the Brooklyn Rd hill in the capital. One longboarder crosses into the right-hand lane, into the path of an oncoming car, and rides around a traffic island before getting back into the correct lane.

Then, skating around a bend in the middle of the road, he narrowly misses an oncoming truck.

Canadian Andrew Chapman then comes into view and approaches a truck in front of him, crouches on his board and squeezes between the truck and the footpath, touching the gravel, before swerving in front of the vehicle. Three other longboarders and the cameraman pass the truck with at least two of them crossing into the right lane, barely missing oncoming traffic in the middle of the road.

At the end of the ride the cameraman exclaims: "Holy s**t, where is Andrew? Did you see what Andrew did?"

The ride took place during a week-long tour around the North Island in December. High Grade Safari, run by Kiwi Jestah Carnie, also included a ride down the Bombay Hills expressway which saw the group labelled idiotic by traffic police in a Herald article last Thursday. Chapman films the ride and is seen passing a truck-and-trailer unit before the group take the State Highway 2 offramp.

Chapman said last week said he may not come back to New Zealand.

"I wanted to but I might be blacklisted now, I'm really not too sure. I guess the cops know who I am and don't really like me." He says "it wasn't even a difficult hill or anything".

Mr Carnie, of neednotollie.co.nz which promotes safe longboarding, was not present during the Wellington ride and asked for the longboarder who posted the video to remove it.

"Everyone who sees this video or anyone choosing to ride with cars shows the same respect and follows all road rules and acts professionally, not irresponsibly," he said.

Wellington road policing manager Peter Baird said that the antics on Brooklyn Rd could see the longboarders charged, under the Land Transport Act, with careless use of a vehicle which carries a fine of up to $3000. Or, if they hurt or killed an innocent person, careless use of a vehicle causing injury or death which carries a penalty of up to three months imprisonment and/or a fine up to $3000 and disqualification for at least six months.

One person described the video as "borderline suicidal" and Chapman runs the risk of being "Chapman soup on an NZ road" if he doesn't "wait your turn next time".

- Alannah May Eriksen