Mother arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter due to son, while riding an e-moto, htting and killing a pedestrian.

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razz_one_@reddit

Yep. I live in Santa Ana, Orange County CA and I always see Surrons and Talarias and Tuttios and even full blown dirt bikes and mini bikes on the Santa Ana River Trail. Every now and then I see people on Surrons doing wheelies on the road with cars passing.

Rest in peace to the victim.

Unfortunately it might come to a point where they outright ban electric bikes, legal or not.

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stormdelta@reddit

Unfortunately it might come to a point where they outright ban electric bikes, legal or not.

Which would make everyone significantly less safe:

Most of the bikes people are complaining about are already illegal. Banning legal ebikes just eliminates responsible people from riding them
Fucks over lower income and younger people for no reason, particularly given the rising costs of newer cars and fuel
The most reckless moron on an ebike is still less of a threat to others than a mildly distracted driver. I'm not saying there shouldn't be consequences obviously, but I'd 1000% rather have someone who shouldn't be driving have access to ebikes than drive (with or without a license, but we allow a lot of people to keep their licenses that shouldn't)

That second point is really important given the lack of other transit options in much of the US.

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OneLegAtaTimeTheory@reddit

I’m pretty new to the whole ebike world so forgive me if this is a stupid question but I don’t understand. Why can’t we just ban the throttle e-bikes? Or at the minimum regulate throttle Bikes? (I.e. age requirements, license, insurance, etc?)

[-]

stormdelta@reddit

Why can’t we just ban the throttle e-bikes? Or at the minimum regulate throttle Bikes?

Because throttle isn't the issue, speed/power/handling are, and again, most of the bikes people complain about are already illegal - so passing new restrictions (especially without any meaningful enforcement) does nothing except screw over the people that were already following the rules.

Class 2 (the only one allowed to have a throttle) have identical power and speed restrictions as a class 1. And I would personally argue there are a number of safety benefits to having a throttle, particularly consistent and precise acceleration from stop through intersections. Minimizing time in intersection and matching car speed are major factors in avoiding crashes in my experience. And having the throttle actually encourages me to slow down more often as I don't feel like I'm wasting 'earned' momentum as much.

(I.e. age requirements, license, insurance, etc?)

Most people are in favor of age restrictions.

License should be for actual mopeds IMO, i.e. things able to keep up with traffic on typical city roads. I'm also very wary of licensing as too many places take the lazy and incredibly counterproductive route of just requiring driver's licenses. Driver's licenses are already too watered down as it is, and we want people who shouldn't be driving to have better alternatives.

I'm also wary of any regulations not endorsed by groups I trust like People For Bikes, as too many new bills are bad faith bans/soft bans that have nothing to do with safety - the recent NJ law is the most egregious example.

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inline-online@reddit

banning all ebikes allows them to not have to do as much work and simply take every ebike they see

the only reason ebikes "laws" aren't enforced is because cops just don't feel like trying to figure out what type of ebike you have and if you are using it correctly accordingly to its class and the laws that go with it, its just too much work

so the result will eventually be an ebike ban, just like those DUIcycles that drunks used to ride before cheap walmart ebikes became their new transportation

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Sewsusie15@reddit

Push for legislation to regulate ebikes in order to protect them. In my country, I had to pass a theory test to get my ebike license, plus get a license plate for the bike. The theory test was mostly about street signs relevant to cyclists, with a sprinkling of questions clearly directed at teenagers (e.g. "Can a cop stop an ebike rider who's speeding?'' A. Only if the rider is at least 18 years of age B. No C. Yes).

The police don't need to do extra figuring out with my bike; it's licensed and registered. They can run my plate number and see my license matches.

They see an ebike/emoto without a license plate? That's a ticket and a fine, and I think they can impound the bike if the rider doesn't have a license.

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rshetts1@reddit

I would rather see that than see a full on ban go into effect, although I think that a ban like that would be fought hard. E-bikes have become very popular and people will not give up without a fight especially as a proper e-bike is capped at a similar speed to what a good 10 speed can achieve. The past three years they sold around 1.3 million e-bikes in the US each year and research showed that as of 2026 over 43% of US families own at least one e-bike. E-bike sales are out pacing electric car sales and are the highest selling electric vehicle in the US.

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Sewsusie15@reddit

When they added the license plate requirement, they gave a one-year grace period where fines would be only about $30. I bet if a state government wanted to regulate rather than ban, they could. Ours are allowed to have a throttle but limited to 25 km/h.

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stormdelta@reddit

banning all ebikes allows them to not have to do as much work and simply take every ebike they see

Sure, just like you'd solve all traffic accidents by making cars illegal.

because cops just don't feel like trying to figure out what type of ebike you have and

That feels like speculation on your part, and doesn't align with what I've heard from cops IRL, which is that it's often not worth chasing them vs the danger created by chasing them.

And besides, other countries are able to enforce ebike rules a lot better than the US despite having far more restrictions.

DUIcycles

This term is wild since it ends up implying people would rather someone keep driving drunk than use alternatives.

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inline-online@reddit

Sure, just like you'd solve all traffic accidents by making cars illegal. It's a joke of a solution and we shouldn't let legislators pretend otherwise.

ebikes aren't cars and thinking they will ever be treated like cars is a losing battle, you have to fight a war you plan on winning

That feels like speculation on your part, and doesn't align with what I've heard from cops IRL, which is that it's often not worth chasing them vs the danger created by chasing them. And besides, other countries are able to enforce ebike rules a lot better than the US despite having far more restrictions.

They have this same problem in basically every country where teen ride ebikes as a hobby, full stop. Australia, the UK, Spain, South Africa all have ebike problem and have cracked down in various wars. But just like in america the laws go mostly unenforced or over enforced. Which is exactly what I'm talking about.

This term is wild since it ends up implying people would rather someone keep driving drunk than use alternatives.

no it doesn't, you inferred that. It's a term that's been around longer that ebikes and its not about someone who could drunk drive but chose a bike, its about someone who lost their license and has to ride a bike but doesn't have the fitness for and can't get a motorcycle license so they a tiny 2stroke motor on a regular bike. That's a DUIcycle

I hate how anti cycling you type of ebikers are, you would literally have no space to exist if it wasn't for regular cyclists and now you are ruining those too

[-]

stormdelta@reddit

ebikes aren't cars and thinking they will ever be treated like cars is a losing battle

Not what I was arguing. The point is that banning all ebikes is a solution so stupid that it should be treated with the same ridicule as suggesting we "ban" cancer or solve traffic deaths by banning cars.

its about someone who lost their license and has to ride a bike but doesn't have the fitness for and can't get a motorcycle license so they a tiny 2stroke motor on a regular bike. That's a DUIcycle

This is what I'm talking about, you're making fun of them for riding a bike even though it means they can still get around instead of continuing to drive drunk without a license.

I hate how anti cycling you type of ebikers are, you would literally have no space to exist if it wasn't for regular cyclists and now you are ruining those too

Getting offended that people like me use bikes as actual transportation and not just recreational/fitness toys is unbelievably entitled and pretentious. Gatekeeping like this is what's wrong with a lot of cycling communities.

And for the record, I'm 38 and have used a bicycle as my only personal transit my whole adult life. I built my own ebike around nine years ago because it made practical sense.

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BoringBob84@reddit

I agree, and selfish people who intentionally blur the line between ebikes and motorcycles contribute to the difficulty of enforcement. The simplest law to enforce would be: if it has a motor, then it is a motorcycle.

I hope it doesn't come to that, but we are headed in that direction.

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kurisu7885@reddit

Lower income younger AND disabled. I use an ebike, well, trike, because I can't drive a car.

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Soltea@reddit

Most of the bikes people are complaining about are already illegal. Banning legal ebikes just eliminates responsible people from riding them

This. This sounds exactly like another issue as well.

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GlystophersCorpse003@reddit

And because I’d own one legal or not, and do substances banned or not (afraid kratom is on the ban list) I’m not a responsible person. I only fake it enough to earn a paycheck 100 percent that’s real

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Conservadem@reddit

Well, aren't you edgy! As long as you're only hurting yourself.

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UpbeatAd9896@reddit

sure does

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sticky-fingered@reddit

I saw a guy on one the other day doing wheelies past the police station here in Scotland. Clearly just a f..k you, and trying to get a response. Can disappear without a trace if he gets a chase. It’s become a global thing.

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Mobile_Ad8543@reddit

When they're e-motos are sold, they need a license plate registration. The state gets to know who owns it & is responsible for it.

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Thellton@reddit

honestly, pretty much anything with a motor should probably have a registration plate/number plate at a minimum. because pretty much every such vehicle is usually expensive enough (and thus valuable enough to steal) to justify it and having a easy to rattle off form of vehicle ID to police (telling them "its a red ebike made by bla bla brand" assuredly sets their inner sherlock on fire... not).

for example; where I live, an actual electric motorcycle (so a Surron Light Bee for example) with a motor power of 11kw or less is equivalent (at present) to $USD274.39; with over 11kw being $USD584.20; so a 0.75kw class of vehicle rego (so every actual 3 class ebike in america) could be priced at say $USD50ish per year including plate, whilst any that exceed that could just be shoved into the higher performance vehicle band above it.

it'd suck to be essentially paying a tax to be allowed on public roads with one's ebike, but ebike theft and shitty emobility infrastructure that local government would have very little excuses left to avoid doing something about. so I think that'd balance out as it would also encourage people comply with actual design regulations too whilst leaving them the freedom to exceed them still?

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ATonyD@reddit

I've read about at least one case of using drones to track and arrest such ebike scoff-laws.

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nyITguy@reddit

I have a feeling that will become more and more common.

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SadisticPawz@reddit

As long as they dont target commuters.

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JuniorKey9708@reddit

These arent electric bikes. They are dirt bikes that are already illegal/,banned everywhere outside of private property

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PatrickGSR94@reddit

how could electric bikes be banned, if motorcycles also are not banned? I suspect they'll be regulated like motorcycles, before being fully banned.

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stormdelta@reddit

By making it technically not a ban on paper like New Jersey did (requires registration that is impossible to actually comply with), or regulating them out of practical existence like the US did with gas mopeds several decades ago.

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CptHammer_@reddit

or regulating them out of practical existence like the US did with gas mopeds several decades ago.

I've got 3 registered mopeds. It was super easy to register them. What do you mean "regulate out of existence"? Ebikes have less regulation and are just being preferred.

One of my mopeds is an ebike from before they came up with the class system. It goes 25mph with a throttle so is neither class 2 or 3. It was super easy to register it as a moped. In order to drive it I have to have a normal driver's license and hang a license plate on it.

Maybe your state has stricter regulations. California has a one time registration.

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stormdelta@reddit

normal driver's license

Requiring a driver's license for mopeds instead of a much lesser license is wildly counterproductive. Some states are better about this than others.

Maybe your state has stricter regulations. California has a one time registration.

Most states don't allow mopeds over 30mph, which aside from having basically no point over a class 3 ebike, also makes them wildly impractical since even just within cities it would be difficult to avoid faster roads especially if it's no longer allowed to use anything else.

I can count on my hands the number of times I've seen a gas moped in the wild in the US in the last decade.

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CptHammer_@reddit

I see gas mopeds more often than I see these electric motorcycles pretending to be bicycles.

which aside from having basically no point over a class 3 ebike

The ability to have throttle is pretty damn important.

also makes them wildly impractical since even just within cities it would be difficult to avoid faster roads

Now you're just saying bicycles of any kind are wildly impractical. Mopeds in California are allowed to use class 1 through 4 bike lanes and trails allowed by the local jurisdiction not something defined by the California vehicle code. In my city any state legal moped or scooter is allowed a full traffic lane or use of any style bike lane, but not trails. Except, electric scooters are not allowed on road lanes where the speed limit is over 35, but is allowed in a bike lane on those roads.

AI says I've only got 220 miles of bicycle lanes, so that's a delusional output. The city planning department says there are over 150 bicycle lanes and I'm confident on average they go over ¾ of a mile, but I do know of one that's exactly 200 feet long.

I'd be super surprised if any jurisdiction forbade mopeds in bicycle lanes. I got pulled over once, in a bicycle lane going between the neighboring cities. The cop through the highway was a freeway. He stopped me right in front of a bicycle lane sign so I'm asking why it would matter. There are occasional bicycle lanes on state routes turned into freeways. This was a state route and has since then been turned into a freeway. It's a pretty cool bike trail now. Unfortunately it being a trail means no moped.

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Mitrovarr@reddit

The vast majority aren't street legal as vehicles, and if they were they'd probably on parity with motorcycles for cost, or maybe even cost more.

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squashed377@reddit

I would bet a drivers license will be required for all soon enough. Kids can go back to their pedal bikes.

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HillbillyRebel@reddit (OP)

I live just down the street from where this happened. It is not as bad here yet when compared to Irvine.

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razz_one_@reddit

Yeah, I think a lot of shops that sell these electric motorcycles are probably just focused on making a quick buck. I don't know if you have seen this "e-bike" store, they are in Anaheim and they sell e-motos, and show stunts and wheelies on their Instagram page. E-Bikes Plug

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OK_Compooper@reddit

Is it really that bad in Irvine? Yes, there are outliers are Talarias and Surrons, but IPD does a good job impounding them. There are thousands of kids on ebikes just going to practice or school, and I don't see many stunting. But the outrage on Facebook and NextDoor for all legal Super73s and Macfoxes and clones is high on misinformation and conflation.

Yes, the cause is some kids doing shitty things like wheelies down the residential streets, or taking up whole car lanes on Culver, Bryan, or any major street, or cussing people out - but those kids are outliers. For any one of those, there's hundreds of kids just going to middle school or HS, or sports practice or their friends. But the extrapolation to the whole category is the default.

As someone who both drives and rides an e-bike in this city, the I see far more dangerous behaviors from people in Teslas and G-wagons. No one suggesting banning those.

I don't want to minimize the tragedy of what happened to that gentleman, nor the potential dangers that unsafe kids can cause, but I'm hoping the solutions aren't short sighted. E-bikes are both fun for kids, and problem solvers when it comes to transportation. I'm hoping that greater enforcement of current rules, and severely limiting purchase access of high speed bikes can help.

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HillbillyRebel@reddit (OP)

Yes, it has gotten a lot better in Irvine lately. IPD has done a great job enforcing CVC. For a while, it was getting really bad. More departments are getting educated on what is illegal and what is not. The DA is doing a great job here too.

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OK_Compooper@reddit

Did you make it out for Ciclo Irvine this weekend? It was pretty cool to ride down Irvine Blvd. The BMX show at Yale was pretty nice, too.

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imbrowntown@reddit

Unfortunately it might come to a point where they outright ban electric bikes, legal or not

That was the point of the fear mongering. It's amazing you guys don't see this.

I don't want to completely dismiss this because well, somebody died, but even with the popularity of surrons, the fatalities linked to them are tiny, especially in comparison to cars.

And yet, we never stop bitching and moaning. Why? Because we live in a society where we've decided that any amount of risk is zero. And if the level of risk is zero, the level of activity is....

Unless, of course, it's a society-approved risky behavior, like for example, driving, drinking, football, and indeed the prison industrial complex. Did you know that the United States has the largest prison population in the world? Indeed, if certain states were independent nations (Louisiana and Mississippi in particular), they would lead the world in incarcerations per capita, beating out even North Korea and India. Nice!

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calamititties@reddit

I mean, I don’t understand why just making the age requirements for getting adriver’s license apply here is difficult.

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skippytheowl@reddit

There’s a difference between an electric dirt bike and a pedal assisted bike. With that reasoning might as well ban electric cars.

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SwiftySanders@reddit

E-motos should be banned for anyone under 18 and anyone without a driver’s license.

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thriftstorehacker@reddit

Technically, by most state laws they already are banned. It's a freaking motorcycle.

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frowniecloud@reddit

Good! There should be consequences for negligent parenting

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Extreme_Banana_912@reddit

Yeah they said in the story she had already been warned prior to this - unreal

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Ticalnza25@reddit

The county should be held partially responsible for only giving a warning since it was an e-moto. Would they have just gotten a warning if the kid was driving a car without a license? I don't see the difference.

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Legitimate-Lab9077@reddit

It wasn’t a warning. They took the kid off. The Emoto made her come and pick the kid up. Had to give her the property back because there was no legal reason for them to keep the property and they told her that if he was on it again she would be charged with a Crime unfortunately, the next time he was caught on it was when he killed somebody.

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richardlpalmer@reddit

Thanks for the info. If this is true, it seems like a reasonable response from the city. It's so unfortunate that a death was the crime she'd be charged for...

The smaller Sauron is essentially equivalent to a CR-80. And the bigger ones are more like a CR-125 or 250.

These kids need to be on dirt tracks, not on roads... 🥺

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Super_Direction498@reddit

It's called a "Sauron"?

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richardlpalmer@reddit

I dyidn't know if that's what this kid specifically had. I was just picking the Sauron models as they're popular and very capable machines.

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squadger@reddit

It’s spelled “Surron” which is probably the confusion

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Super_Direction498@reddit

Ah thanks, was wondering why someone would name a bike Sauron

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richardlpalmer@reddit

Lol! My bad!

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JuniorKey9708@reddit

They actually aren't even legal for ohv trails in California. It's something about the VINs (if present) not being tied to an approved OHV certification record. These emotos are literally not legal anywhere except private property.

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richardlpalmer@reddit

Oh wow, didn't know that. I thought they might be suited for racetracks...

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hemig@reddit

It's similar in most places, but it's rare that anything severe happens. Hell, I saw two kids on them get hit by cars in the course of a week in Henderson, NV. Mountain bike areas are swamped with them everywhere, even though they aren't ebikes. Enforcement needs to step up before more people are killed.

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Separate-Command1993@reddit

Yes basically, they’d get a fine and that’s it

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The_walking_man_@reddit

Which should land her with a harsher punishment. She was warned that her shitstain child was being a threat to safety and she ignored it.
Now someone is dead directly because of said shitstain and her own dismissal of the issue.

Both deserve to be made an example of and set precedence that this is intolerable.

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Mobile_Ad8543@reddit

Juvie detention.

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Mobile_Ad8543@reddit

She had been trying to distract from her son's crime, bc ppl were taking pictures documenting her son illegally riding on the streets, popping wheelies.

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Evening-Change-7226@reddit

They need to also do the same with judges that release repeat criminals

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alttabbins@reddit

Parents are in charge of them until they are 18, they should be (even partially) responsible for the things they do. Keep your crotch goblins under control.

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StrikeouTX@reddit

The kid should also be charged

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darforce@reddit

I believe he is charged with manslaughter

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methodmichael@reddit

But if the kid was driving a car recklessly and killed a while family there would be no punishment (provided he stayed at the scene)
It feels good to punish the parent but legally I don’t think we should do that unless we are going to start charging parents for all crimes committed by their children.

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untrainedmammal@reddit

Agreed. Not to mention the paren could have had the keys completely locked up, the bike chained up and maybe the kid defeated the lock/found the key. Disobeyed the parents etc etc.

It’s unlikely but it could of happened and it feels to me, if I was on the jury and the defendant said she hid the key up in a closet under some clothes, or gave any description of a place and said that the kid was told not to ride the bike on the street and the key was hidden.

That would be enough for me to have reasonable doubt that a crime was committed by the parent. Even if the parent had just told the kid repeatedly that they didn’t want them riding on the street.

That’s enough for me to say okay. The parent wasn’t actively allowing the child to ride on the street. The kid needs to take responsibility for his own actions.

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darforce@reddit

They could have the keys locked up, but they didn’t. She was warned by police multiple times that the emoto was illegal and her son was riding it dangerously. She bought the bike herself knowing it was illegal and/or not doing a simple check on the website or DMV site. She had every opportunity to get rid of it or put it in storage until he is:old enough, but she didn’t. She ignored it. That is why she is culpable. She will do jail time. They will make an example of her. 100%

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darforce@reddit

I think definitely parents should be charged for a lot of crimes kids do when their own negligent parenting causes damage or injury to other people. I mean you can’t be with your child all the time, but if they are out at 3am breaking into cars (a problem in my town) then yeah….your kid should be home

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Ohm_Slaw_@reddit

If only that could pass a law that outlawed riding illegal electric motorcycles illegally. /s

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Mindless-Concept8010@reddit

We have that now.

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Ohm_Slaw_@reddit

The /s indicates sarcasm.

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untrainedmammal@reddit

Wish

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ls7eveen@reddit

This is dumb as fuck

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nyITguy@reddit

It was dumb as fuck to let her kid loose on the streets with a motor vehicle he wasn't responsible enough to operate.

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ls7eveen@reddit

Are we going to do the same for cars?

A teenager just killed another kid in a 900hp rivian that weighs 7000lbs....

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Double-Seaweed7760@reddit

The kid wasn't 16,it was 14

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ls7eveen@reddit

Byt you get a license at 16

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Double-Seaweed7760@reddit

Because 16 was deemed the age you're physically and mentally capable of driving they allow you to get a license at that age. There's a big difference between 14 and 16. Also this 14 year old was riding an emoto not an ebike. Emotos ate motorcycles and should be treated as such.

Class 3 and under ebikes are bikes and should be treated as such. Id be for an age limit on class 3 but nothing more. E motos should be treated as motorcycles. A responsible adult wouldn't give a 14 year old a motorcycle even if it were legal to do so.

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ls7eveen@reddit

Big difference between 16 and 18. Even bigger to 25.

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Double-Seaweed7760@reddit

I don't know what point you're trying to make. The person I was responding to was comparing this case to a case where a 16 year old killed someone with a car in a similar situation and I was insinuating that this was worse because this case was basically a small child riding a motorcycle and at least the 16 year old was of legal age and mental capacity

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ls7eveen@reddit

Research shows they aren't of mental capacity though. Despite it being legal which on a society wide scale is stupid.

And they are not 18 so when has a case been brought agaisnt a parent for supplying a lead rocket to a child?

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Pixelplanet5@reddit

yes thats exactly how it work in most places.

especially if you are basically giving them the keys and know that they are doing this.

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FigNinja@reddit

The parents are liable in my state. When they sign the permission for their kid to get a drivers' license, it comes with a statement acknowledging that they accept liability.

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ls7eveen@reddit

When's that ever happened?

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nyITguy@reddit

Kids have to have training, take tests and be licensed to drive cars, just like adults do.

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ls7eveen@reddit

Yes. You dont? What part of that li.its deaths?

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junxxxxxxxxx@reddit

she had already been warned before that her kid was a menace while riding. you either take it away, or you suffer the consequences....

in this case, an innocent man is dead

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richardlpalmer@reddit

The conversation needs to be happening at (or prior to) the point of sale.

These parents are buying the equivalent of a full-sized dirt bike (in terms of power/speed) and allowing their children to ride them on the street, on sidewalks, bicycle paths, etc. because they think they're little more than toys.

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untrainedmammal@reddit

Most parents are buying them used or the kid works and saves up 2k and buys a used bike.

Sure the dealership should mention it but it’s pretty clear that the bike is for off-road use only. Most don’t come with a title so it’s hard as hell to register it and get it plated. They make it so hard to do it legally and then people are surprised that they are all over the road illegally.

The problem with kids driving them on road isn’t a emoto specific problem at all. Dirtbike in general are all over the roads. Look at the wheelie boys group. All you can do is pull them over and impound them. It’s not much different than the huge motorcycles stunting and racing around. Same with cars racing.

problems.

It’s really hard to do it legally.

These bikes are cheap so kids can buy them used.

It’s hard for cops to catch them. Not worth the risk to chase them. The relative risk of starting a police chase is way higher than letting them ride.

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darforce@reddit

Maybe it’s a hard process in California, but in NY it’s not really hard at all. 2 forms and an inspection. I’ve done it myself.

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Jbikecommuter@reddit

She should sue g to his shit out of the e-moto manufacturers!

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darforce@reddit

They wouldn’t have a case. It would be thrown right out. Every one of these bikes has an intended use clearly laid out on their website.

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Ready-Product@reddit

In my city 14 yo, drugged the parents locked them up. Stole the key of shelf from parents. Took car key from it. Took it for joy ride causing havoc. In this scenario who is responsible? Parents has been charged due to legality though.

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darforce@reddit

Yes, for the most part you are legally responsible for damages etc that your child causes until they are 18

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Dexter_McThorpan@reddit

If your dog gets loose and kills someone, the owner is liable. Maybe if they start holding parents liable for their kids' behavior, kids won't be such assholes.

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Mitrovarr@reddit

If your dog gets loose and kills someone, the owner is liable

I fucking wish that was true and enforced.

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untrainedmammal@reddit

Maybe not criminally liable but anyone can sue anyone else at anytime for anything.

In this case the lawsuit would probably be successful. So they could be held liable in a civil lawsuit and be forced to pay.

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Mitrovarr@reddit

Except they're usually completely broke as shit and there's nothing to take.

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untrainedmammal@reddit

Well I agree. I was just pointing out there are 2 completely different types of liability and in this case the person can be held financially liable but not criminal. I’m not really arguing anything just pointing this out because a general statement that’s someone should be heard liable isn’t specific enough for people to know what you mean.

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_haha_oh_wow_@reddit

14 year olds should not be riding motorcycles at all but definitely not without supervision.

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JAK49@reddit

I learned to ride when I was 8 years old, way back in the Nineteen Hundred and Eighties. Of course this was rural Pennsylvania on farmland. Nobody to bother and nobody would have cared even if they had noticed. My supervision consisted of seeing I had learned to balance and then setting me loose lol.

Different times for sure.

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_haha_oh_wow_@reddit

Yeah I'm not talking about dirtbikes on a farm, that's different.

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untrainedmammal@reddit

They are already illegal. So making them illegal for 14 year olds to ride isn’t going to do anything.

The law is actually pretty practical right now. Some kid on a farm or an actual motocross track is able to ride it but they can’t take it to the city and rise in the streets. That’s reasonable.

The problem is the ability to enforce the law. 99.9% of the time the person getting hurt is the rider of the Emoto and nobody else. So when the police decide to chase them they are only increasing the risk of injury and death to everyone including the rider and the public. That’s why it’s really not worth it. The police can try and bust the big rides with 100s of bikes because those are actively blocking roads and disrupting. But they can’t do much else. It’s already illegal. More laws won’t do anything

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Mitrovarr@reddit

Because you personally didn't die doesn't mean that was a good thing for your parents to do.

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Separate-Command1993@reddit

Ok karen

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BlownCamaro@reddit

Excellent news. It's the only workable solution without outright banning the sale. I hope it gets LOTS of publicity, so parents think twice before purchasing one for their kids.

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untrainedmammal@reddit

Wouldn’t a solution be to make them able to be licensed and registered? Then require motorcycle license to ride them exactly the same as any other motorcycle?

Then pull the kid over and impound the bike. Once they start impounding bikes people will sell them if they don’t have interest in registering them.

This isn’t a Emoto specific problem anyways. It seems like dirtbikes in general get used to ride on streets and do wheelies. Look at the “wheelie boys” an entire group of morons doing this with gas dirtbikes. You can’t ban the sale of all dirtbikes….

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BlownCamaro@reddit

Yeah, had dirtbikes and 4-wheelers racing down my street just yesterday. I have personally been told by police, "We don't chase because inevitably they crash out and then we have to deal with that." And they know this which is why they ride unlicensed, uninsured motor vehicles on the street.

I think the parents will be much easier to catch on foot.

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untrainedmammal@reddit

Yeah but if I’m on the jury and the defense for the parent says that they hit the key, or that they have repeatedly told the kid not to ride on the road and that they don’t approve.

That enough for me to have reasonable suspicion that a crime was not committed.

I guess I’d have to know more about what exactly is needed for an involuntary manslaughter charge to stick. But for me if the parent told the kid that they didn’t approve, then the kid needs to take responsibility, not the parent.

It sucks that this guy died but in reality this is rare. It’s almost always the kid getting hurt or killed by cars. This is a crime that almost always affects the person riding the motorcycle.

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ArmchairPancakeChef@reddit

I've been bicycling for about 6 years. And INVARIABLY if I see someone speeding down a sidewalk at 15 mph or crossing an intersection irresponsibly, IT IS A YOUNG PERSON.

I avoid them whenever possible. Young people nowadays have been taught NOTHING. Their parents are too busy being their best friends instead of their teachers. They are usually exceedingly stupid and careless.

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Bulauk@reddit

She was warned about her kids reckless riding before this incident too which is why they are going harder on the charges.

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Lajak_Anni@reddit

its nice to see jonny law did the job right for once.

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_Cerebral_Musings@reddit

gif

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ScreenFroze@reddit

Reddit we need to follow through on this and ensure they actually serve time.

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thirtynation@reddit

Who cares? Y'all are seriously addicted to outrage. How about we keep talking about bikes?

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Denver80211@reddit

Commenting on an article saying that "nobody should talk about articles like this" is not the flex you think

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thirtynation@reddit

In what world is my comment a flex?

Yikes bud.

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Denver80211@reddit

The hole you dig about outrage just keeps getting dug deeper

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thirtynation@reddit

Not at all. Just you looking the fool.

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Denver80211@reddit

uh huh

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Mitrovarr@reddit

If the community doesn't start to clean up after itself, society will do it, quite likely by throwing all e-bikes in the bin.

It is better to have good legislation now instead of knee-jerk bans later.

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thirtynation@reddit

Sounds good boss. The battlefield for that fight isn't this subreddit though.

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Mitrovarr@reddit

Why? It feels like a form of advocacy (i.e. get good rules in place before bad ones are introduced).

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thirtynation@reddit

The negligent parents buying their kids surrons so they can be just like their favorite influencer aren't reading this subreddit. The constant discussion accomplishes nothing, it's a classic reddit circle jerk.

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CaliforniaRaisin_@reddit

I think the family of the man who got killed cares.

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thirtynation@reddit

Yeah I'm sure this reddit post is really improving their situation! Good call.

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JimJamurToe@reddit

Excellent news. Dumb parents w8th terrible judgment should pay a price.

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Single-Mushroom3924@reddit

Absolutely. Poor parenting needs to be called out so other bad parents see the consequences.

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intensive-porpoise@reddit

I'm not sure if other 'bad parents' are the type to take notice and get with it - but here's to hoping

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Single-Mushroom3924@reddit

If bad parents don't take notice, here's hoping their neighbors, friends, and relatives notice and apply enough peer pressure!

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Separate-Command1993@reddit

How many times is this going to be reposted over the next month. This is already at least the 4th time. Can I repost it next week please?

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imbrowntown@reddit

Shhhh you don't get it. The pain is the point.

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nyITguy@reddit

Maybe the next dumb parent will think twice.

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Separate-Command1993@reddit

Ahhh yes, child free Reddit where everyone was born at the age of 25 and was never a child and never goes outside. Probably voted to not increase taxes for public schools bc “you don’t have any kids”.

How about kids will be kids and there are already laws for motorcycles. 16yo in a car kills someone, they don’t put the parent in prison

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