To wonder why all these teenagers are being killed in police car chases?

[malificent7]

Are they only being chased if they are driving dangerously? First there was Cardiff now the kid on the bike. I know kids do silly things with cars but aibu to think the police don't come off well with this?

Let’s put it this way, when you don’t spend money on things like healthy food, nice family days out, supporting your child’s education or paying for some wholesome and safe activities for them to do, you do save quite a bit of money which can then be spent on a nice sparkly pedestrian-murderer.

Useless twat parents, basically.

They already need a licence, they are motorbikes, you need at least a provisional licence and CBT to ride one, the bike has to be insured to be on the road legally.

So in both cases the boys were criminals because they were riding bikes without insurance, without licences, without helmets and in one case they had a passenger.

You cannot carry a passenger on a provisional licence.

Where are these parents getting the money? PPs say that these bikes are worth £5k, I never had presents of that sort of value when I was a kid.

One person gets it on HP, then they sell it on when they need some cash. It then gets sold again.

I live in an area with a particular regulation, I was astounded at the presents some children get, they cost a fortune, but they often end up in cash converters a few months later. Having said that most of the people here are lovely honest hard working people, but there are a few who are not.

Your parents probably never pawned your presents.

Needing a licence wouldn’t stop trash parents buying them for trash children.
We would still need the police to follow them (yes, even chase them!)

Well chasing them isn't working is it? a bit like an Asbo, chased by the cops = badge of honour!

Why are these things for sale? as i said earlier, a guy local to me, fits Chinese e bike motors to ordinary bicycles, been doing it for years, reported a few times, inc by me.
No action taken by Police or trading standards as apparently its not illegal, just needs a bill of sale saying for off road use only.

I ve ridden a legal e bike, they are bloody powerful, up hills would leave even a racing cyclist for dead & new ones are lighter and behave just like a normal bicycle over 16mph i.e can do 30mph plus down hills.

I wonder if some parents have any idea what they are buying their kids?

a guy local to me, fits Chinese e bike motors to ordinary bicycles,

Aren't they breaking emissions rules?

1. They have been followed, for a short period of time. Not chased. A police chase is very different to a car/ van following you for a bit and noting down your behaviour for general awareness.

2. Many of these kids are not on bicycle, but on what are classified as electric mopheads. They are illegally riding them on the road without a licence, insurance, registration, CBT, helmet etc. Which means they are putting themselves and others in danger. If you ride one of these things and crash you are likely to be seriously injured or die of you do not have a helmet and protective gear on.

3. E-bikes which are road legal for over 14s only (not younger) are pedal assisted bicycles with a speed limit of 15.5mph, and power output of 250v max.

4. A number of charities and consumer groups have raised concerns that some unscrupulous retailers (often online) are selling electric motorbikes as E-bikes.

5. What is needed is a crackdown on people illegally riding the electric motorbikes without all legal requirements in place. If these bikes were seized and confiscated if their riders do not have licences, insurance, helmets etc. then much of this dangerous behaviour could be prevented. They're a great idea for affordable, lower emission transport, but not when in the hands of people who are not qualified to ride and are behaving recklessly. Police seize uninsured cars, or cars and bikes where the person driving does not have a licence. There needs to be the same action for these bikes (though I think we'd all see a sudden drop off in Deliveroo availability of that happened).

Yes, compliance with emissions rules being super important to criminals, heaven forbid they contribute to pollution whilst on the daily drug runs

EsmeSusanOgg
Brilliant post.

I'd add a number 6 too:

1. The press have a responsibility to accurately report events regarding these vehicles and the circumstances surrounding any crashes.

(Hypothetical situation based on similar stories)
"The teenagers were illegally and recklessly riding an electric motorbike to get away from the police, who were following. They lost control of the electric motorbike and crashed. The teenagers were not wearing helmets or safety equipment and they sadly died from their injuries. At the time of the crash the police were several streets away"

sounds very different from

"Teen on e-bikes were killed in police chase"

The second is deliberately written to give the impression that the police were responsible for the deaths.

I'd also say that the press should also release recent photographs of the teens who die, not photos of 5+ years earlier of them as primary school aged children. That's also done deliberately and is done, in my opinion, to mislead.

Parents buyng these bikes are also putting their children at risk of being mugged for them. There's a photo going around on facebook of 3 teens/young adults wearing balaclavas riding on one of these bikes (yes, all 3), they've been stealing them from teenagers by using the one they are all riding. There's also a post from a parent of a child that had theirs stolen by this gang, personally I think they did them a favour!

I think we've all read that when online people click on things that they disagree with /that annoy or anger them much more than the things they are happy about.
Hence the wind up headlines, they get more clicks.

That’s really interesting - do you have a source for that? We have an E scooter hire scheme here and I find them intimidating and they cut me up as a cyclist!

WRT scrotes on illegal E motorbikes - sadly it’s Darwinism in action :/

https://theconversation.com/are-shared-e-scooters-good-for-the-planet-only-if-they-replace-car-trips-121166
Half of e-scooter use replaces active travel.

@DdraigGoch i guess the same applies to the many other forms of cycling running or exercise, few actually replace a car, in fact many encourage their use, Sportives, Parkruns.... drive to the Gym... boating lake... dog for a walk...

Cycling for recreation often does involve cars - but that's not relevant to the discussion about whether or not e-scooters are good for modal shift. If someone is going to travel a distance to take part in a cycle race, they're not going to consider using a scooter, they'll either drive, cycle, or take the train. The answer to modal shift for these people is more cycle spaces on trains, plus bike racks on certain buses (around here I'm thinking of the TrawsCymru network as an example because it essentially exists to fill in gaps in the rail network).

Commuter cycling on the other hand almost always replaces cars, either for the "last mile" to/from the station, or for the entire journey. Do people who would otherwise have driven to work/to the station use e-scooters, or are they using them for journeys they would otherwise have walked?

I quite agree. The press reporting on these cases is terrible.

I've just read on the Guardian today that the police involved in the chase in Cardiff have now been charged with misconduct. This is going to lead to the police having even less ability to catch these bikes being ridden illegally. I have heard that they wear balaclavas specifically so that the police can't chase them.
These bikes are becoming a big problem in our area.

I live in Cornwall, there are always lots of people cycling at weekends, usually having driven somewhere to start from, very few commute, our roads don't lend themselves to rush hour traffic and bicycles/e scooters or e bikes.

Its a terrible waste that people don't use a bicycle to travel to work with, e bikes really do make cycling a pleasure for the less fit.

Accepted this is a bit of de rail and purely anecdotal... sorry.

@newusern1 thats ridiculous.

I don’t think that’s quite accurate about the misconduct. My understanding of the reporting was that misconduct paperwork has been served on them informing them of the investigation but it does not follow that there will misconduct identified and they be disciplined.

I am in the police and whilst obviously being vague, I will soon have paperwork served on me for something and it is merely to inform me officially of the investigation.

@Nicknacky that's good to hear. Apologies, I had only read the headline (another example of how headlines can be misleading)
Link below for anyone who wants to read the article in full.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/13/police-who-followed-boys-in-fatal-e-bike-cardiff-crash-served-misconduct-notices