I'd be interested to hear others views / suggestions on this.
A group of local kids have somehow got their hands on a powered go-kart - quite a decent one by the looks of it. However, they have taken to driving it up and down the street and often further - on to the surrounding streets via a moderately busy road. Now, I'd be surprised if any of these are old enough to drive and certainly the majority of those driving it are nowhere near 17.
While I think it is a good thing they are being given the chance to try this sort of thing I'm not happy at all with them tearing around residential streets. Quite aside from anything else, they can't be insured so if they happen to hit anything they won't be covered.
Is there anything I can do, or should do? Aside from the noise I feel they are a danger to themselves and others the way they are going on. Quite how their parents can happily watch them screaming around I don't know - they really should be finding a quiet carpark somewhere for them to drive around.
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And I thought I had it bad with the wretched gopeds that tear around the streets after dark, often with one seven or eight year old at the controls with another standing on the back. No lights, no insurance, not an iota of traffic sense, and an amount of noise out of all proportion to 22.5 cc. One of the prime culprits is the same kid who rode his pushbike bang in to the side of my brand new V70, so I don't hold a lot of hope before it all ends in tears.
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Last year at the camping areas in Le Mans 24h race there were two kids aged probably 13 and 10 who's parents had more money than sense and had bought them a quad bike each.
Apart from the noise nuisance, these were a positive danger.
One of them managed to stuff it into the rear of a parked Beemer. What made me smile was that everyone was more concerned with the health of the Beemer than that of the spoilt brat. (I think it was a deliberately overdone display done for the benefit of the parents of the kids).
Luckily both were fine.
I have a similar problem herre with a lad who probably isn't old enough for a licence. On the road (or sometimes pavement), without a crash helmet, he and his mates are always "testing" his noisy moped thing outside our row of houses, one of which contains a local plod-u-like. As he doesn't appear to do anything, there probably isn't much more I can do. The noise is plain irritating.
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Its become an epidemic around my area..I did see some time ago. Parents watching these kids and appeared to be having a laugh..
I hate to think what would happen if an accident occured. No doubt Parents would sue Driver for all their worth..
I have spoken to Police about it.According to them where they can.ie enough Police in the area will send someone round..Never been known though..I do wonder at some Parents
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Steve
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Parents - good shot Steve, I'll take this off topic a bit.
Again at Le Mans, people cruise in their swanky sports cars and sometimes can be persuaded to "burn some rubber" for the assembled throng. It's good fun.
Last year someone asked a parent to stop his son (maybe 8 or 10) firing a super soaker at the cars. This was just after a brand new Aston with leather uphostelry had been through and suffered quite a drenching. Father started yelling at intervener where he should go, and I think would have started a fight had some of us not assembled around. Fine example to his lad, fine example of Englishman abroad and fine example of exactly the uncaring attitude which so many of today's parents pass on to their kids. And which results in the antisocial behaviour which is the topic herre.
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smokie. I didnt see that far off the mark..It happens here I had same. Though not an Aston.. Only a rover..Point is it shoudnt happen.I wonder where we are going. If police dont help.I rubbed the rest for fear off deletion.though rubbs me up the wrong way..Agree with what you said.
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Steve
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Round our way go-peds, quad bikes etc which we do see are the least of our worries. A variety of scramblers (moto-crossers), some of which are quite potent eg. 350cc+ No lights etc ridden at night some of them up and down the footpaths. Apparently a few years ago I read that a youngster was decapitated doing this where someone had put cheese wire across the path.
Sooner or later these loons are going to kill someone and then their will be lots of hand wringing.
I nearly hit a go-ped the other evening, pitch black and he had no lights, helmet etc.
Jim
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I wonder if there's more concern over kids on these powered vehicles because of the danger or because of the noise?
I've no idea how fast they can go, but it's probably no faster than a 10 year old can pedal on a geared bike. Who here didn't achieve near-warp speed as a kid on their bike, or at least try it? As for where they can go, there's probably nowhere else they can go without annoying someone else.
Worrying about the safety of the child does allow us a comfortable position on the moral high ground, but often the reason is something more selfish (making no judgements, just an observation of human nature)
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Based on the local kids in stoke and what they use in the streets they can definately go much faster than your average 10 year old on a push bike.
Go-peds - probably 10 to 15 miles an hour
Quads - 15 to 20 miles an hour
100cc Petrol go kart - easily 30mph
Being hit by a go-ped wouldn't be too bad but i definately don't fancy being hit by the other two.
Also there is the fact that they just shouldn't be used on the road as they're not taxed, insured or driven by someone who gives a damn if they hit and damage a parked car or knock an old lady over.
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Where I live the current 'yoof mobility scurge' is these 'Mini Moto' miniture motor bikes. Incredibly noisy and the rider looks ridiculous perched on a thing half the size of a monkey bike.
As usual the Police haven't intervened it seems. Mind you, would you like the job of trying to give a warning/ prosecution to a bunch of gobby urchins that know their rights (to their advantage). Seeing their parents wouldn't do any good because they would just back them to the hilt.
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To explain my post (which seems at odds with lots of others), if a thread starts reading like a Daily Mail story where the underlying direction is "it's a disgrace, the youth of today" etc, then I natrually try to take the other viewpoint ;-)
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Garethj, could simply be because issues like this have more than one side to them.
Yes, the are noisy and annoying in that respect.
Yes I am worried they will damage my car through lack of care.
However,
Yes, I worry that they will end up under a bus
Yes, I worry they will drive in to some little kid who doesn't know better
Plain and simple, residential streets are not the place to be doing this sort of thing. The kids do not have the experience to control these things properly for one, but also people just do not expect a go-kart to come hurtling out of a side street at them. These things are very low and not designed to give any protection in a collision other than with another go-kart.
As for places they could use it - well, it's the school holidays so how about school playgrounds that are otherwise unused at the moment? Or very near here we have a well-known road that was build and never opened.... But being the cynic I am, I know that both of these options would require their parents to drive them, towing the cart, to these places which is much more trouble than letting them tear around the street.
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Agree with them being annoying, but are they any more dangerous to parked cars and pedestrians than a child on a bicycle / pedal kart / home built boxcart with a stick for brakes? At least with an engine you can here these things coming (or expect that someone is charging towards you with a petrol hedge trimmer or tin can full of wasps)
School grounds are strictly out of bounds at non-school times, security is usually in place to enforce this - surely you wouldn't advocate the children break the law here?
Unopened roads are pretty rare, I don't know of any within a mile or two of where I live. You can't suggest a local park either, as they would surely be as dangerous to others there too.
Apart from the fact they are noisy, I can't see the difference between these things and bicycles or the pedal karts of ** years ago when most of us were enjoying childhood.
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What's wrong with taking them to a karting track ? Plenty of them around, try yellow pagers under karting.
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While a kid losing control of a bike and it ramming in to a parked car would do some damage, I'm sure it wouldn't do quite as much as the frame of a go-kart impacting at a much higher speed. When it comes to pedestrians, the kart would go under and flip them up rather than knocking them down - potentially worse depending how they land.
Must be a new thing about school grounds - we were positively encouraged to go and play on the school fields when I was at secondary school, 12-17 years ago I must admit! Still, many schools around here have no obvious security and you often see kids taking advantage of the playgrounds.
As for the unopened road, can't remember the details, but it was built a year or more ago but for some reason can't be opened yet so is just sitting there...
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Must be a new thing about school grounds - we were positively encouraged to go and play on the school fields when I was at secondary school, 12-17 years ago I must admit! Still, many schools around here have no obvious security and you often see kids taking advantage of the playgrounds.
Think insurance/unsupervised/duty of care and similar neurotic attitudes.
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Talking of which, I see today that there are/will be EU regulations to govern the speed of kiddies roundabouts, and the angle of slides.
What will they think of next I wonder...
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I believe it is the parents who are responsible at they almost certainly bought the "toys" for their kids without thinking about wher they could use them responsibly or about any of the safety issues.
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Probably thought that one up during lunch overseing kiddies playground..At least it kept their minds off Motors.
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Steve
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