VIDEO: Man lucky to be alive after riding longboard across 5 lanes of freeway traffic in South Bay

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KGO) -- A man is lucky to be alive after riding his longboard across five lanes of freeway traffic. Dashcam footage shared with ABC7 News showed the man dodging cars on northbound 280 in Santa Clara, during rush hour Tuesday.

Bay Area-native Eric Walker was behind the wheel, on his way home. He admitted his commutes home are always a bit unpredictable. However, he never imagined his dashcam would catch a dangerously bizarre stunt.

"Normally, it's a little bit insane. Like, the expectation that someone's going to do something crazy," Walker explained. "The expectation was not a longboarder in the middle of the highway. So that was a little jarring to say the least."

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The man wasn't fully visible to Walker, or to the camera until he enters the fast lane.

Walker shared the video to YouTube, then Reddit.

The whole ordeal happened before 5:30 p.m., just north of the Saratoga Avenue exit.

While the video is racking up views online, the California Highway Patrol is not amused.

"Not only is it reckless and dangerous, but it's also illegal," CHP Officer Ross Lee told ABC7 News. "It's against the law for pedestrians to be on the freeway."

Officer Lee said an officer in the area located the man from a distance, and over an announcement system, told him to stay off the freeway.

Lee said the man left the freeway and got away. He otherwise would've received a citation.

"The thing that was unique about this is that the individual's not only on a skateboard on the freeway, but crossing the lanes of traffic," Lee added. "Not just on the shoulder."

Lee said the CHP routinely receives calls about pedestrians on freeways. He said the CHP responds to each one, as the agency takes them very seriously.

"But we also have a number of homeless encampments in the area," Lee explained. "And the people who live in those camps are moving back and forth, either off of the freeway, from one camp to the next."

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"It looked like he may have come out between a separation in a couple walls, or one of those service doors," Walker added. "I learned right on the other side of those service doors is a bit of a homeless encampment. So, for all I know, he was showing off to his friends and saying, hey... look what I can do."

Walker said fortunately, the man pulled the stunt during a time with heavy traffic. "In a way, he kind of lucked out that it was at that time. I think, had it been lighter roads and people were going 70 to 75 mph, I'm not sure people would've been able to react in time for him."

"The guy put a lot of other lives in danger, not just his own," Walker told ABC7 News. "Had somebody actually hit him, that could've been a severe wreck."

Officer Lee acknowledged it could've also been fatal.

He said people are usually issued citations, and courts could impose a fine. Lee said multiple citations can lead to an arrest.

The incident adds to a list of bizarre behavior on Bay Area roadways. ABC7 News has reported on electric scooters being used on the Bay Bridge, a naked man riding a bicycle on Hwy 101 in San Jose, now this stunt in Santa Clara.