Seriously are people so stupid?

[Jim Goose]

http://www.smh.com.au/victoria/tunne...602-1fh7z.html

Tunnel skateboarder stuns drivers
Megan Levy
June 2, 2011 - 8:12AM


A tourist who stunned motorists by skateboarding through the Burnley Tunnel at peak hour this morning told authorities afterwards that he thought "it looked like a nice road".

The young man is being interviewed by police after the daredevil stunt inside the 3.4-kilometre tunnel at 7.30am.

Shocked motorists said the skateboarder was cruising down the middle of the left lane, forcing drivers to dodge him. One truck was seen trailing behind him sounding his horn.


CityLink spokeswoman Selby-Lynn Nicholas said at one point the man fell off his skateboard on a steep slope, and began walking through the tunnel.

CityLink closed the left lane before a firefighter on his way to work in Burnley stopped and picked him up.

Deputy Police Commissioner Ken Lay said the skateboarder’s actions were "dumb, dumb, dumb".

He told 3AW that the tourist could face criminal charges such as trespass.

"I don’t know the details of it but I suspect it was a young man who was probably risk-taking," he said.

Mr Lay said the firefighter who picked up the tourist may have prevented his death.

"In hindsight I think he’s probably saved someone’s life. It just seems a pretty dumb thing to do doesn’t it?"

Metropolitan Fire Brigade station officer Alan Morton said he had heard several motorists calling in to radio 3AW to report the incident, and kept an eye out for the young man as he travelled through the tunnel.

When he saw the skateboarder, he ordered him into his MFB vehicle.

"I asked him what he thought he was doing and he said, and I quote, 'It looked like a nice road'," Mr Morton told 3AW.

"I think he was from Switzerland. He said he’d been here a couple of weeks. I’m not sure whether he meant just Melbourne, or had been in the country a couple of weeks.

"He didn’t seem to have a clue that he shouldn’t be in there skateboarding.

"He was quite happy to get in (the vehicle) because I think he’d had his fun and he was on the upward stretch and he had a few injuries. He looked like he’d come off a few times.

"You know if you fall off a skateboard I presume you get pretty bad grazes on the palms of your hands and on your knees."

Mr Morton said he pulled into the waiting bay at the end of the tunnel and waited for police to arrive.

"I said 'Look I think there’s an ambulance coming behind us so we’ll just wait'," Mr Morton said.

"I didn’t tell him it was the police. I just sat there for about a minute or so and when the police came I flagged them down and we actually just drove around the corner into our Burnley complex where he’s assisting I think with their inquiries."

Mrs Nicholas said cyclists had been picked up in the tunnel on two other occasions, however this was the first time a skateboarder had been nabbed.

She said the man had been skating along City Road and entered the tunnel at the Kings Way ramp. CityLink is examining CCTV footage of the incident.

As the drama unfolded, one shocked motorist, Nick, told radio 3AW that he saw the skateboarder cruising down the middle of the left lane.

"There was this great big truck ... right behind him. He was giving him a bit of a blast," Nick said.

"I was just stunned when I saw him, I couldn’t believe it.

"It’s going to take him a while [to clear the tunnel]."

Another caller, Ken, said an announcement was made through the tunnel that the left lane had been closed.

Alan also saw the skateboarder reach the start of the incline inside the tunnel.

"He’s going to have to start pushing up the hill now. I just passed him right at the very bottom of the dipper now at the bottom of the tunnel," Alan said

.

Every day i encounter more and more idiotic stakeboarders and scooter riders (mostly young) you continually ride their boards all over main roads in busy traffic.
Most really dont give a toss they are playing chicken with cars and trucks.

Do parents out there who let their 5yr old on a scooter on a main road have any brains or care about their kids?

Obvisously this guy in the tunnel is much older, but the brain dead mentality starts out when young and just keeps growing with age.

[my67xr]

some funny/weird stuff goes on on the roads nowdays...

i am regularly seeing a disabled lady driving her gofer? (4 wheeled electric ride on), she is around mid-late 40yo
i see her driving it from the local shops (marion, sth aust) with a couple of bags of shopping on the back.
she drives up the wrong side of the road between 1.5 - 3 metres from the gutter!!! she is heading directly for cars
people dont know what to think or do, some hit the brakes and stop, some blast their horns, others have to swerve around her.
she doesn't seem to care or doesn't know that she shouldn't be doing it???
shouldn't she be driving on the footpath?
sometimes/rarely i see her on the footpath,
once i was backing out of my driveway, i have a 1800mm high fence on one side, i was slowly backing out and she was about to come past the side fence. i immediately stopped, and she glared at me and shook her head.
i waved her to go past but she wouldnt budge, i said come on, ill wait.
still she wouldnt move. i put my hands up in the air to say i dont know what you're thinking and she frowned at me.
i then signaled to her that i was going to back out, she didnt react so i moved out onto the road. then she moved up and parked across my driveway and stared at me?? and frowned again??

i gave up and drove off, as i got up the road near where i was turning i looked back to see her still parked across my driveway.
what a weirdo....

[MAD]

I wonder if his skateboard was impounded under hooning laws.

[WMD351]

I blame Citilink and Vicroads. There's no signs anywhere saying "DON'T SKATEBOARD ON FREEWAY" so what's a bloke supposed to think?

Some great radio reports this morning.
One traveler estimated the idiots speed at 60 kmh.
Another said that at one point he took a tumble into the center lane causing a truck to swerve around him, and we've seen what can happen in the Burnley tunnel when a truck suddenly carves across lanes.

And now one of the TV stations is rewarding him by putting him up in a s**** hotel so they can have the exclusive story?

Thank goodness no normal people were seriously affected by this peanuts actions.

[RepSpec]

Originally Posted by MAD

I wonder if his skateboard was impounded under hooning laws.

wouldnt have been going fast enough...

[WMD351]

He was hanging on to the back of a DeLorean.

[uranium_death]

I have said this before.
"YES"

[Ben73]

Originally Posted by RepSpec

wouldnt have been going fast enough...

You don't even have to be moving to be a hoon.

[TUF_302]

Dumb dumb dumb!!!

[LTDHO]

I read that he found it was the quickest way into the city.

You would not need to be that bright (regardless on where ya from) to see that the tunnle is for motor vehicle only.

[wrongwaynorris]

In a word Yes

[mik]

can a duck swim??

[Linkachu]

Originally Posted by my67xr

some funny/weird stuff goes on on the roads nowdays...

i am regularly seeing a disabled lady driving her gofer? (4 wheeled electric ride on), she is around mid-late 40yo
i see her driving it from the local shops (marion, sth aust) with a couple of bags of shopping on the back.
she drives up the wrong side of the road between 1.5 - 3 metres from the gutter!!! she is heading directly for cars
people dont know what to think or do, some hit the brakes and stop, some blast their horns, others have to swerve around her.
she doesn't seem to care or doesn't know that she shouldn't be doing it???
shouldn't she be driving on the footpath?
sometimes/rarely i see her on the footpath,
once i was backing out of my driveway, i have a 1800mm high fence on one side, i was slowly backing out and she was about to come past the side fence. i immediately stopped, and she glared at me and shook her head.
i waved her to go past but she wouldnt budge, i said come on, ill wait.
still she wouldnt move. i put my hands up in the air to say i dont know what you're thinking and she frowned at me.
i then signaled to her that i was going to back out, she didnt react so i moved out onto the road. then she moved up and parked across my driveway and stared at me?? and frowned again??

i gave up and drove off, as i got up the road near where i was turning i looked back to see her still parked across my driveway.
what a weirdo....

I've seen similar one where this old guy rides his around at night with no light... On the wrong side of the road. He puts his hazard lights on and I'd imagine most other people like me thing WTF is that. Sheer stupidity, that's what it is.

[Yellow_Festiva]

I'm selling a ton of stuff on ebay.......

Here is one of the descriptions:

Wooden chest of drawers. Still structually sound. 5 drawers in total. Paint / varnish has worn away and it will need to be cleaned up and re-painted or left as is for its 'rustic charm'. 89cm wide, 47cm deep and 102cm tall.

And here is my first question:

Could you please tell me height width and depth of chest of drawers. Thank you.

So.... YES.

[Ducati888]

Originally Posted by my67xr

some funny/weird stuff goes on on the roads nowdays...

i am regularly seeing a disabled lady driving her gofer? (4 wheeled electric ride on), she is around mid-late 40yo
i see her driving it from the local shops (marion, sth aust) with a couple of bags of shopping on the back.
she drives up the wrong side of the road between 1.5 - 3 metres from the gutter!!! she is heading directly for cars
people dont know what to think or do, some hit the brakes and stop, some blast their horns, others have to swerve around her.
she doesn't seem to care or doesn't know that she shouldn't be doing it???
shouldn't she be driving on the footpath?
sometimes/rarely i see her on the footpath,
once i was backing out of my driveway, i have a 1800mm high fence on one side, i was slowly backing out and she was about to come past the side fence. i immediately stopped, and she glared at me and shook her head.
i waved her to go past but she wouldnt budge, i said come on, ill wait.
still she wouldnt move. i put my hands up in the air to say i dont know what you're thinking and she frowned at me.
i then signaled to her that i was going to back out, she didnt react so i moved out onto the road. then she moved up and parked across my driveway and stared at me?? and frowned again??

i gave up and drove off, as i got up the road near where i was turning i looked back to see her still parked across my driveway.
what a weirdo....

Yes, this thing about respecting one's elders has me a bit perplexed. One respects people who are not idiots, ar$eholes and buttheads, however I suspect this person has always been one of those, and just deserves abuse and a whack on the head.

If they were ****** when they were young, why wouldn't they be when they are old? I live in fear for 40 years time.

[302 XC]

Seriously are some people stupid ???

I think the q should be
Seriously are MOST people stupid

Now if this idiot got hit by a car or truck and sustained an injury,it would be the drivers fault
The driver would be in the courts paying some compensation
Start culling the gene pool i think

[Ducati888]

Originally Posted by 302 XC

Seriously are some people stupid ???

I think the q should be
Seriously are MOST people stupid

Now if this idiot got hit by a car or truck and sustained an injury,it would be the drivers fault
The driver would be in the courts paying some compensation
Start culling the gene pool i think

If this was truly an elderly person on a 4 wheel scooter then it's too late to cull the gene pool in this case. They've most likely already polluted it with their evil cretinous spawn.

[svo supporter]

Originally Posted by 302 XC

Now if this idiot got hit by a car or truck and sustained an injury,it would be the drivers fault
The driver would be in the courts paying some compensation

Here here with that bit. The coughers are quick to blame the poor innocient motorist, not the nitwit that is riding a skateboard or gopher in the middle of the road.

[bodes-sh]

i find it quite amusing that nobody else decided to stop and pick him up...

fair enough it is a stupid thing to do, but instead of just swerving around him why not stop and tell him to get in the car? they can see he's in danger, but they don't do anything about it?

i also don't get why vicroads operations didn't close the left lane as soon as they saw him entering the tunnel. surely they have cameras on the outside of the tunnel that they would have seen him with...?

[Ducati888]

Vicroads "Operations" don't control Citylink. Citylink do.

Vicroads have nothing to do with the Citylink toll road. That's why the road is so neat, clean, tidy and well run. They have customers.

They knew he was there and were responding when the guy was picked up. Sometimes closing a lane can cause more trouble that it solves.

[BadMax]

So, did anyone get hurt or injured?

[LTDHO]

Originally Posted by BadMax

So, did anyone get hurt or injured?

Yeah the skateboarder was.

[Keepleft]

Originally Posted by WMD351

I blame Citilink and Vicroads. There's no signs anywhere saying "DON'T SKATEBOARD ON FREEWAY" so what's a bloke supposed to think?.

This bloke was Swiss I recall, he will be well aware, if he's obtained his Swiss DL, that for motorway class roads; pedestrians, horses and horse drawn vehicles, tractors, cycles and slow moving vehicles are prohibited.

This is international law held in The UN Convention on Road Traffic, it is contracted by 99% of countries including Australia. (Although some our public servants forget this, and is why certain primary driving regulations actually exist). Agree, we need to reinstall more prohibitory signs at freeway on-ramps.

His mental health is perhaps not the best.

[Jim Goose]

Obviously he hasnt learned his lesson....

Tunnel skater arrested for bail breach

Posted 1 hour 43 minutes ago
Dominic Emmenegger, who skateboarded through the Burnley Tunnel

A Swiss backpacker who rode through the Burnley Tunnel on a skateboard last Thursday is back in custody after breaching his bail conditions.

Dominic Emmenegger, 21, was arrested after his unorthodox trip through the tunnel during morning peak hour.

He fell off his skateboard in the central lane of the tunnel and was almost run over by a truck.

He pleaded guilty in the Magistrates Court to reckless conduct endangering serious injury and was bailed to return to court later this month.

But he was arrested again this morning and is due to appear in court today.

[BadMax]

I reckon it's pretty funny. It's as though every single poster in this thread carrying on like an old mole has never done anything silly...

[XRRRRRR6JIM]

Originally Posted by MAD

I wonder if his skateboard was impounded under hooning laws.

i heard on the news that the skateboard was actually confiscated.. true story

[svo supporter]

Originally Posted by BadMax

I reckon it's pretty funny. It's as though every single poster in this thread carrying on like an old mole has never done anything silly...

I've done some silly things, but what this skateboarder did was beyond silly. More like having a death wish. One thing I didn't have

[Adamz Ghia]

Originally Posted by BadMax

I reckon it's pretty funny. It's as though every single poster in this thread carrying on like an old mole has never done anything silly...

Wouldn't be funny if he was hit or killed would it. Pure stupidity.

As for stopping and picking him up, yeah I understand where the idea is comming from, but as I have found out by having to dodge a knife while driving, there are some freaks out there...

[Full Noise]

Originally Posted by BadMax

I reckon it's pretty funny. It's as though every single poster in this thread carrying on like an old mole has never done anything silly...

Many of us here have done things when we were young that would make the kids of today fall back on their backsides in disbelief. Something about growing up in a country before it turned into a nanny state, however, there comes a time when you just have to look at something and ask yourself, why? I mean, this really could kill me.

In this idiot’s case, it was why not. So when some motorist runs over this clown because the last thing they’d expect to see in the tunnel is some dill on a skateboard and then the person behind swerves to avoid the first bloke and before you know it, instant fatality.

In my opinion, he should be bashed to the full extent of the law.

[Ben73]

Not smart idea, but it's not as bad as some people are making it out it to be.