Would you let your 16 year old daughter have a moped?

[GetOrfMoiLand]

DD is 16 in December and would like a moped for her birthday present.

DP is a biker and she loves riding on the back.

My initial thought is to shriek 'over my dead body'. We live in a city centre and I have visions of her being run over by juggernaughts.

gratref: but we're not talking about motorbikes, we're talking about mopeds, which go no faster than a pushbike. You don't need full leathers for the same reason you don't need full leathers on a pushbike.

In fact you tend to get much worse road rash falling off a pushbike as you are inevitably wearing far less clothes. Jeans, a good CE fabric jacket, stiff shoes, gloves and a lid are good enough for a moped.

Look at jackets like this and this. They look cool and have discrete armour in all the right places.

I think you should wear full leathers etc even on a push bike.

My parents never let me have a moped at 16, I couldn't believe how unfair they were - several of my friends had one.

At 20 years old I went out and bought one of my own, followed by another, then a 500cc and a 750cc bike.

When my oldest reached 3 or 4 years old, I sold the bike, hung up my leathers and vowed not to get on another bike until my kids were adults.

Reason: because I won't let them have bikes either and didn't want to appear a hypocrite.

I concur that the countryside is a safer place to bike, but when you do have an accident it can be every bit as serious.

I wouldn't know how to live with myself if I supported the purchase of a moped and she had a serious accident.

sharon: so heatstroke is preferable to roadrash?

Hogsback....was just a thought...

The thing is that on a scooter/moped/motorcyle you are really as passive as you are in a car; you're pulling or pushing levers with your hands/feet, but otherwise it's not as much physical hard work as riding a pushbike. So while body armour might be helpful to a push-biker in a crash, the discomfort of same on a day to day basis renders it impractical.

The absolute minimum for anyone on a PTW (Powered Two Wheeler) is the legally-required crash helmet, and, imvho, good gloves, boots and jacket. Given the way a friend was recently flayed, I'd add protective trousers too; they're really not that dear.

oldlady: couldn't agree more. But protection doesn't need to be leather. I wear fabrics in winter as they are warmer and waterproof but still have all the armour etc. I love the scooter jackets that I posted links to above but not quite sure they would look right on my 1050cc Triumph

Maybe you could have visions of her having fun & gaining great confidence on the road,plus an understanding of what's needed to be a conscientious rider/driver?

I'd want to find some stats on the safety of bikes vs mopeds. Have googled and all I've found so far is on a USA forum. copied and pasted below; I've no idea where their stats come from and obviously they include motorcycles which I accept will be more dangerous than a moped.

The fatality rate for every million hours spent cycling is 0.26, compared to 0.47 per million driving hours (on-road motorcycling comes in at a whopping 8.80 deaths per million motorcycling hours). For every million cyclists in the US, 16.5 die each year, whereas for every million motorists, 19.9 die each year.

Riding a motorcycle is much more likely to result in serious injury or death. Reaction time at 25mph on a 25 lb bicycle is much more effective than the same reaction time on a 500 pound motorcycle traveling at 50 mph. Even if the motorcycle is traveling at bicycle speeds, it is harder to maneuver out of trouble than a bicycle.

According to bare statistics, an hour of riding a bike is about equal in danger of death as an hour of driving a car. According to the same statistics, riding a motorcycle is about 30 times the risk of death of driving or cycling.

I am a biker and have had a few crashes and yes i would let my DS. I am sure I will worry a lot though

As Hogsback says decent strong protective gear, especially gloves, boots, jacket and helmet, not necessarily leather.

One thing I would say is go for a moped with big wheels as they are better than stupid little ones.

Viva: US statistics aren't much use here. Mopeds are virtually unknown in the US as they don't have the same laws and their 'first' bike is usually a 250cc. In many US states, you don't even need to take a bike test!

Believe me, 16 year-olds don't ride around on 50cc mopeds restricted to 30mph here because they want to, it's because the law says they can't be trusted with 125cc until they are 17.

For UK figures look here linky, particularly at chart 1e.

Bear in mind the following:

• Mopeds are not broken out as a significant category. As they travel significantly slower than motorbikes (limited to 30mph) I would expect the number of serious accidents to be reduced, as their is simply less opportunity for serious injury in a slower moving vehicle.

• Accident rates for motorcyclists are dropping year on year due to massively improved rider training. Riders who have taken their tests in the last few years will have been trained to a much higher standard than older riders.

• Moped accident statistics may be skewed by the fact that many of them are ridden by immature 16-yr old boys, many of whom do not have direct experience of motorcycles and a biker role model, unlike OP's DD.

Regarding the claim that it's easier to manoeuvre out of trouble on a pushbike than on a motorcycle if both are travelling at the same speed - this is simply untrue as any motorcyclist will tell you. Small motorcycles as favoured by learners are fantastically nimble and even larger ones have as good steering lock as a pushbike and as the weight is much lower down than a pushbike they have better low speed stability - even US cops on fat H-Ds agree:

No I would not and I disagree about the CBT being good. They have no lessons and then turn up on the day, spend 8 hours learning to drive the thing and as long as they are vaguely competent they pass and are let loose on the roads.

Very scary. DH did his CBT for a motorbike but he was ok as he has been on the roads for 15 years or so driving. He found it very worrying that 16 year olds could be allowed to do this without formal lessons etc.

i had a 125cc moped when i was 17. the only time i ever came off it was when the back wheel skidded on the draincover on our drive.

i went everywhere on it and it gave me much more freedom than dads cabs or the unreliable norfolk public transport could.

i wouldn't say that countryside driving is any safer than town driving, you get mud on the road, blind corners that massive tractors zoom around, animals running out into the road etc. i encountered a cow once on the road!

Also my DH went on quickly to do his Direct Access and is now doing BikeSafe London course and a one Sunday a month course with RoSPA (Advanced Riders). He is very very aware of how dangerous motorbikes and mopeds can be and wants to do all he can to prevent being injured or worse. Do they have this sort of thing for mopeds? CBT is NOT enough.

nikki: I completely agree that CBT is not enough. It allows you to ride with L-plates, nothing more.

Would I think you should? Up to you and your DP, of course. presumably your DP knows about safe biking and can help her be very aware.

Would I? nah. I only know two friends who ride a motorbike or moped. I say know, knew: school mate went under a bus coming from a junction and my best mate at school hit a prked car in a freak accident and died a few hours alter at 16.

It comes down to your own experience really doesn;t it? Which is hopefully very different to mine. i wouldn;t expect my boys to choose a moped becuase i hope they woudl understand that I would be terrified becuase of what happened to my friend.

This is interesting. It's something we are already considering for DD1 (only 8 ATM!) when she gets to 16 as there are no buses here and her school transport will run out once goes to college. So quite how she is supposed to get there under her own steam (blowed if I am changing my work routine to start doing a school run aged 16!) without a moped I don't know .

Sorry I read this thread. Was thinking of getting my 16yr old daughter a moped. Not because she wants one, just to stop me being a chauffeuse, driving for an hour every morning through stop/start traffic jams. Resigned now - due to comments on this thread, and her lack of enthusiasm- to continuing my chauffeuse role. When I was 16 I would have loved a moped more than anything! Times have changed...

This is a very old thread, so nothing written now will help the OP, but others might be interested to learn that in Guernsey it is legal to ride these small mopeds from age 14. And Guernsey has a huge traffic problem, largely exacerbated by the school run, and by some people who insist on driving to work in huge 4x4 SUVs. At the school where I worked, many of the pupils used mopeds to get to school. Far fewer cycled, unfortunately, and very few teachers either (I was one who did).
But there were no problems. It's very much about riding defensively - adopting good road positioning, making eye contact...
If we continue to discourage two-wheeled transport then traffic congestion - and the associated danger - will only get worse.

Yes
I completed a course, I think it was for a couple of hours every weekend for 6 weeks. The instructor provided tips for riding, traffic and danger awareness

It is also useful if someone can help maintain the moped. By this I mean monthly checks on tyre pressure, oil, brakes and consult the manual to see what else needs checking

Dress appropriately with hi - viz

Be careful in different sorts of weather, especially ice !

Best tip - when riding take up the space of a car (so do not ride in the gutter)

Do not drink and drive

Insure, tax, mot

Watch out for speed cameras and hidden cameras tracking for fines for no driving in bus lanes, red lights and other traffic violations

FREEEEEEEEDOM !