Sydney man slammed for dumb act on highway: 'It's not a joke'
Authorities have slammed the senseless acts of some who risk their lives by walking or running on busy motorways, dangerously close to oncoming traffic.
A Sydney man was captured running along the M8 at St Peters recently, a decision deemed "no joke" by incident response coordinator at Transurban, Andrew Szeles.
CCTV footage shows the man jogging in the emergency lane of the highway before stopping to take a selfie. Video shared by Nine News shows the man standing on the road with his arm stretched out, posing for a photo. Then, as a car approaches, the man appears to lunge at it before walking off.
"It's not a joke... not only are they risking their own life, but they're risking ours as well," Mr Szeles told Nine News. He Szeles said "it's very risky and dangerous" but alarmingly, it's not a lone incident. Another woman carrying bags was shown scaling a barrier in the middle of the M4 at Homebush in Sydney's inner west before crossing multiple lanes. She then proceeds to walk along the road as cars whiz past her.
"Over the past 12 months, we have seen a 40 per cent increase in pedestrian incidents... it's very concerning to us," Andrew Head, Transurban Westconnex Group Executive, told Nine. Those caught doing it will face an $81 fine.
'Act of lunacy' on busy road
It comes as one man's death-defying act was caught on camera earlier this month, leaving Radio host Ray Hadley gobsmacked. The man can be seen standing at the edge of the M4 motorway. Suddenly he spots a gap in traffic and makes a daring dash forward. It appears the man put his life at risk in an attempt to retrieve a shoe, which he was seen picking up before retreating back to safety.
"[He’s] grabbed the shoes and from what I can see in the video he’s about to duck back off the road to the right and then obviously he’s going to make his way across three lanes of traffic back to his car," Hadley told his 2GB audience."I mean, we could have been talking about a bloke just absolutely on a slab somewhere in the morgue. I mean you see some acts of lunacy but that goes down as one of the worst I’ve seen this year."
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
