Hair-raising footgate has emerged on Facebook of a car weaving down a rural highway on the wrong side of the road.
Social media pages connected to the boy racer community are filled with admiration of a Nissan Skyline drifting at speed around blind corners on the wrong side of the road.
Police are alarmed by the illegal driving saying they are disappointed to see drivers consciously making decisions that put both themselves and other motorists at risk.
The brief video, which was posted on New Year's Day, shows the sedan fishtailing across both sides of a winding stretch of the rain-slicked highway.
The camera pans out to show a steep drop off into a bush-clad gully on one side of the hillside road.
With the engine revving and tyres squealing the driver navigates tight corners, skidding dangerously around them at high speed and potentially into the path of oncoming traffic.
Drifting fanatics describe the footage as "fat as", "keeping it street" and "solid".
The brief 15-second video has been viewed nearly 20,000 times.
While it does not identify where the drifting took place some have suggested it was
on Takaka Hill at the top of the South Island.
Today assistant commissioner Dave Cliff warned anyone thinking about drifting on public roads to think twice.
"Police would advise anyone considering taking part in activities such as this to think about how other road users may be affected and how they would feel if they seriously injured or killed someone," Cliff said.
"It is all too easy to think it's just a bit of fun and it won't happen to you, but all too often it can.
"When you consciously drive in an unsafe and uncontrolled manner your chances of a crash are increased."
He urged people to drive to the conditions, make sensible decisions behind the wheel and give your driving your undivided attention.
The holiday road toll currently stands at 19. The official period ends at 6am tomorrow.