Banning kids from riding

[All Things 414]

After the death of a three year old in country Victoria, Kidsafe Victoria are calling on the Victorian Government to ban all children from under the age of sixteen from riding motorcycles. They believe children are too physically under developed or mentally immature to control such machines.

They believe your kids are better off dying from boredom in front of the Nintendo or stealing a car with their mates and running over someone thus spending years in jail much to the pleasure of their fellow inmates.......

[caps 999]

where did you hear this 414

[All Things 414]

The news. This morning.

[yzhilly]

I have taught all 4 of my kids to ride and the youngest was the earliest to go on her own at 6 and she was only just physically strong enough to ride. I think if you need training wheels on a minibike you should stay on a pushy. At 3 years old i wouldnt be letting a kid ride on there own !.The do gooders are getting a bit ahead of themselves as to what they will let me do .

[Nathan S]

So Kidsafe is another make-work group, who wanders around the countryside looking for ways to make peoples' lives hard, just to keep themselves in employment?

I wonder how many of them have been to a junior MX meet? Anybody who says that a typical 12 year old is "...too physically under developed or mentally immature to control such machines" has cleary been living under a rock...

As much as the child's death is an awful tragedy, I can't help but wonder about the details. Were they wearing protective gear? What sort of bike were they on (KTM50? Pocket bike? Or a PeeWee)? Was the kid able to ride a push-bike? Etc.

To simply say "nobody under 16 should be allowed to ride bikes" is nothing more than sensationalist dribble.

[TM BILL]

 Thats a typical overeaction by the moron fringe .
Over here some tree hugging Dyke bitch has managed to get a law passed stopping parents from smacking their kids
All its done is made real people potential criminals , the scum fringe will still beat the crap out of there kids 
Another case of the modern world gone mad.
I am so thankfull i was born best part of 50 yrs ago as i will hopefully tip over before this world dissapeers up its own arse 

[Doc]

I just read the story and what a complete and utter load of crap The man in question for making such a ridiculous suggestion is Mark Stokes. I reckon we should ban all kids from horse riding and pushbikes, football too, not to mention hockey, soccer, netball and basketball, matter of fact ban them from all sports and everywhere or anything that could injure them. Kids have accidents in the home and at school too so lets remove them from their parents and schooling also because obviously they simply are not safe there either! The only suggestion I have is remove these idiots like Mark Stokes who come up with such brainless suggestions.  Below is the news article in reference.

Boy's death sparks motorbike ban call.

A child safety advocate has called for laws banning children under 16 from riding motorcycles after a three-year-old boy was fatally injured in a crash on a western Victorian farm.

The boy was riding a motorbike on training wheels when he crashed down an embankment by the Wimmera River on his parents' property at Quantong, west of Horsham, on Sunday afternoon.

The boy fell head first on to a log in the river, a Rural Ambulance Service spokesman said.

The boy's father was trying to resuscitate him when paramedics arrived from Melbourne.

He was flown to the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, where he died on Sunday night.

Kidsafe Victoria president Mark Stokes said 900 children aged 14 and under were admitted to Victorian hospitals in the past three years with injuries from motorcycle accidents.

A further 1,800 presented for treatment at hospital emergency departments, Dr Stokes said.

"The reality is that children under 12 do not have the developed strength or motor skills to handle motorbikes and riders also needed to develop a greater maturity and sense of judgment, road safety and responsibility," he said.

"Proportionally we believe similar statistics exist in every state," he said.

Dr Stokes called on Australian governments to introduce legislation similar to US laws banning under-16s from riding motorcycles.

Teens often used motorcycles on the road or in dangerous locations without any training or licensing, he said.

"It seems ludicrous that we have an appropriate regime of driver training and licensing for driving a car, but in the case of a motorbike or mini bike there is virtually no control over the age limit for motorbike riders on bikes that can do up to 60 km/h," he said.

[Tom]

im recently turned 16 i ride a cr125 and me parents still get worried bout me goin ridin in the bush with my mates but i try not to do anything out of my level of riding but then again i do try new jumps and new tracks other wise you cant really improve  ;)so theres always a chance of something going wrong even if your being carefull it just sounds a bit ridiculous what the governments talking about.

[Freakshow]

umm thats why they have rider safe and Kick start.  you cant get a junior license unless you have complete the 'Kick start; course, although you can still get a rec licence under 10 you still need to be in a club, if any thing needed to be done it already has the coaching for Kick start means all kids need to pass a theory and bike handling couse before they get on the track and race/get a licence.  The rec licence has to be signed of by the club secretary who is needed could also call for a handling test to be sure befor ehe signs off the application form.

its already covered.  They just like to have a new "target that cant speak back" most bush kids that get killed are on Pitbikes or a shitter and get pinned by a trail tree, most are sneaking through on registered on vacant land/trails.  its a bit of a shotgun statement, but that what the media want no context lots of sensationalism.   

what was left out was the fact he was riding without a helmet ( im sure there is a law for that, and in a freak accident even if your on a horse, bicycle or running, if you land head first on a  log with a 3 year old 'soft' spine and neck thigs are always going to go bad, accidents happen.

what kids safe should focus on is, smoking, drugs and depression around kids, with kids and kids with, but thats not as easy as a few stats on a current outcome. 

[All Things 414]

As you said. We're soft targets. Every mother's nightmare. They'd be a lot happier if bikes didn't exist!
As for you young Tom......Unregistered, noisy motocross bikes in the bush with un-licensed riders aren't a lot of help to us either

[Freakshow]

yes dad

[Lozza]

 
Cheeky bugger you are Freaky

Just a slow news day and beware the empty handed journalist.A classic beat up if I ever saw one

[Doc]

settle down on Tom 414..not everyone wants to race and where else are you going to ride especially if there is no club or track nearby? My mother still worries about me riding and I'm 44, it's par for the course of being a parent. My parents didn't have the funds or the means to get me into a club and on a track and I knew that but that didn't stop me riding. As a kid we would ride every given opportunity in the bush on MX bikes and mainly on crown/government land but as long as it's not bothering anyone then there wasn't a problem. I know times have changed a little but Tom sounds pretty sensible. I'm no racer or cluby, I actually have more fun out riding with a few mates in the scrub and if it's not bothering anyone riding in the bush then go for it I say. I may cop a little flack for this but eh..to me it sounds like you are catagorizing Tom with these idiots who ride up and down public streets and parklands on pit bikes and I am sure Tom would agree this sort of behavior is detrimental to the sport but jeez, at 44 I still go out on the odd occassion and ride my unregistered MXer in the bush. The police know the situation in regard to lack of riding areas and there are nasty fines 'but' so long as you don't ride like a spastic on roads/fire trails or near residential areas they really are quite understanding and most times accept the fact we are only having a bit of harmless fun. It's the idiot factor that stuffs up everything, not the guys who ride in some remote bushland away from everyone  getting back to the topic, no commonsense, no respect for others, no helmet and no safety gear is a recipe for disaster and this is what's doing the damage not the bikes.   

[oldfart]

Remember guys they are in election mode    grand standing .head lining what ever you want to  call it 

[cyclegod]

Remember guys they are in election mode    grand standing .head lining what ever you want to  call it 

I believe BULLSHITTING is the correct technical term