Skateboarding is popular in California, the weather calls for a nice cruise through its beaches and streets since it’s not very pleasing to find yourself stuck in traffic after a long day. Traffic hour is probably the worst time to hit the freeway. The hashtag “#Freewaychallenge” has been surfacing social media lately as skate boarders are taking in this fad around Southern California. These reckless skaters are taking advantage of the slow freeway advancement and are getting out of their cars while the driver or backseat passengers record them skating down the freeway. Not only is this dangerous for the skater since something can go terribly wrong, but its also distracting to other drivers. The traffic on the freeway does not stay consistent, meaning that within seconds it could pick up or slow down. Needless to say, no one should be out of their cars while on the freeway at any time.
Pro-skater Nakel Smith applauded this trend, he was recorded on the 110 freeway performing stunts and riding behind a loaded bus. Although he supported this dangerous social media craze, his manager reassures that he is not encouraging anyone to do it. Smith should have thought twice about his action since he is admired by many skate boarders of all ages. This type of behavior is only encouraging others to repeat what he did.
Although the California Highway Patrol has warned skateboarders of its pricey fine, it doesn’t seem to stop this rebels from performing stunts down the slow lanes. Investigators have started looking on social media and have reached out to those who have a video with the hashtag. Their priority is to put a stop as soon as possible to this abnormal activity.
It is understandable that the attention a social media video can get is outrageous, many crave the attention and will go far to create a flashy hashtag that can probably explode. You can “damn daniel!” and make Vans shoes the hottest trend again. Or you can do someones make-up and have followers applaud you for such art. But skating down a freeway is not the way to do it.
We are already impatient with traffic and tend to switch lanes more than once to get a little ahead. Now imagine trying to switch lanes and you find yourself waiting on a skateboarder who’s grabbing on to a cars bumper and zig-zagging through traffic. Let’s hope this fad does not catch on and remains just a hashtag that a few people are tagging below their videos.