/ 3 September 2008

German police hunt for highway skateboarder

German police said on Wednesday they were looking for a skateboarder who was filmed travelling at about 100km/h on a motorway.

The skater can be seen on a film made available on video-sharing website YouTube hanging on to a motorbike to get up to speed before letting go and whizzing downhill along an autobahn (motorway) in southern Germany.

German autobahns often have no speed restrictions but the picturesque stretch of road concerned outside Goeppingen near Stuttgart has a limit of 80km/h.

According to press reports the man, dressed in the video in a red and black jumpsuit and an aerodynamic white helmet, is a stuntman and well-known international downhill skater. A comment on YouTube suggested he was Canadian.

But police were not amused, with spokesperson Uli Stoeckle saying on Wednesday they were trying to find the skater and that he was being investigated for dangerous behaviour. — AFP