AIBU to refuse scooter lifts for our children in Sicily?

[Furcault]

Afternoon all, my DH is Italian, he grew up in Rome but his grandmother is Sicilian and the family own a home down in Sicily, quite rural, 1 hour walk from the home to the nearest village with shops and further to a beach/city.

We usually visit every summer, this year our 2 DC are 11 and 12 and have increasingly found the trip quite boring, their cousins are all a bit older at 16/17/18.
DH has suggested we let their cousins who all have scooter licenses take them to the beach or into Syracuse some days, by allowing the children to ride on the back.
He claims this was normal and some of his fondest memories are taking his younger cousin out and about on his scooter when he was old enough to.

I don’t like it at all, I’m not happy with the idea of the children riding on the back of scooters at all, we always rent a car for getting about, but least of all do I want them being with teenagers who maybe aren’t as safety conscious and going all the way in to Syracuse which is a good 35 minutes away.

DH thinks I am being over protective.

AIBU?

Where we live most people use a scooter as a family vehicle. I think as long as they are wearing helmets there is no issue. It’s very normal in a lot of places worldwide.

Terrible idea!

I’d make sure your insurance covers this.

We live overseas and it's very common to see small children on Scooters. The roads are much quieter and as long as they had a helmet on I don't see the problem

Brilliant idea. The kids would love it and great for them to experience how other people live.

They'll be fine, they're too old to be wrapped in cotton wool, let them have fun!

Poor kids. Let them go. What memories they’ll create. It’s normal in Sicily. Be guided by your husband

Good grief, that sounds like an appalling idea. I can't believe how many PPs would be OK with this.

Are no licenses needed for scooters? Are the roads exceptionally quiet? Do scooters go really slowly?
If they break an arm, would insure cover this activity?

i’ve fallen off a bike at slow speed. it broke bones. it hurt a lot.

Young men drivers are not known for self control or refraining from showing off. this is clearly shown in the accident statistics.

this is why protective clothing is worn for protection. I imagine they will only be wearing shorts and t-shirts. the gravel rash if they fall will be bad.

all things considered i would not be letting a young male relative give a child a lift on a scooter. i’d also be reluctant with car lifts. i’d be afraid of accidents.

At 15 or so, maybe younger, I was phut phuting my way around French roads on a mo-ped, from my father’s holiday house to the local towns and rivers and such. Later it was an ancient scooter. At 18 two friends and I spent 3 months living there alone and cycling if we wanted to go anywhere or do anything (2 hours each way if we wanted to go to a supermarket).
At some point they’ve got to start doing fun independent things. Helmets, insurance, and make sure the cousins know you’ll flay them alive if they drive like idiots.

Definitely not at 11 or 12 !

Loss of one inch of skin per mile speed if you fall off - remember that

Absolutely not and I am quite liberal

When I was a kid, our NDN (Italian bloke) used to pick me up from school on his Lambretta scooter, and bring me home. No helmets were involved. This was 1960s UK - it's one of my fondest childhood memories 😊. Let them go 👍

They have licensees, you can get A1 scooter licenses at 16 in Italy, maybe even in the uk too?
The roads to the nearest village and town are all dust tracks, mostly farm vehicles, going into Syracuse is much busier especially in July/August.

DH insists it’s fine and he used to take his younger cousin all over during the holidays.

why not drop them at the beach with their cousins and then pick them up a few hours later?

We can do this, DH doesn’t want to as it restricts movement, he thinks part of the joy is if one beach is too busy they can just get on the scooters and go elsewhere. If we drop them off then they have to say there and the cousins are less likely to want to do it as their independence will be undermined.

Will their older cousins really want your children there when they chill out with their friends? This sounds like an accident waiting to happen!

No way. And I’ve lived in Italy for 30+ years.
You can get a moped (under 50cc, no passengers) licence at 14 (!). That means some of them who have been offered the incentive of a moped to do well in their Junior School exam are already out on the road, often with a souped up engine.
What goes through their parents’ heads????

Even at 16 (125cc max and passenger if the scooter is certified to carry one) there is no earthly way I would trust a child to transport a child.
Both my DC got driving lessons as 18th birthday presents. Only bicycle before that, and it was the norm.

If DH is willing to transport them, take the responsibility and give them the experience, fine. Otherwise it’s a hard no.

It would be a definite no from me and I like to think of myself as a fairly laid back parent.

Just be sure they wear helmets. Although it's supposed to be mandatory in Italy, in the South it's very much viewed as (how can I put this) "optional". They might not even own any.

Even with a helmet they’ll be wearing shorts and T shirts. I shiver at the thought of them skidding off into gravel and dirt track…

I wouldn't be happy with it given the ages of your kids and the scooter drivers. But I'd be making an effort to make sure the kids (and cousins) weren't bored by facilitating lifts - with the beach example you gave, you could pick and drop them at a different beach if they wanted to move on. Or just leave them for a couple of hours - at 11 and 12 a couple of hours at beach/in town with their cousins might be plenty without imposing anyway.

In uk your provisional license doesn't allow you to take a passenger though.

They don’t have provisionals, they all have full A1 licenses, have sat both theory and practical tests.