Rider, 16, 'drunk on motorbike'

Police are horrified after catching a 16-year-old who had ridden his motorbike while drunk and helmet-less through a Sunshine Coast residential area in the middle of the night.

Police say he was 16, drunk, had no helmet and was riding a motorbike through a tree-studded park in a residential area in the middle of the night.

“All he had to do is hit a tree in the park and he was dead,’’ horrified police inspector Tony Lewis told thedaily.com.au.

Police will allege they received complaints from residents in the Sippy Downs area around 1.45am yesterday and sent out a patrol car but were unable to intercept the unregistered and uninsured motorcycle as it sped through a park on Oxford Place.

Police will allege the boy returned a roadside breath test reading of .166% - more than three times the adult drinking limit.

Later at the Maroochydore Police Station, the teenager allegedly failed to supply a specimen of breath.

He was also charged with unlicensed driving, using an unregistered and uninsured motorcycle, and failing to wear a helmet.

The incident is the latest in a series of speeding and traffic offences which has police wondering how many young people will have to die before they get the message.

"Where were the parents then?'' Insp Lewis also wanted to know.

He said the latest case was the first he could recall in his time on the Coast of such a young bike rider being caught riding while intoxicated.

Insp Lewis said the combination of inexperience, failure to wear a helmet, and alcohol could not be worse.

He said the young rider appeared to have no regard for the safety of others, the peace and quite of the neighbourhood, or his own safety.

He said police often received complaints about young people riding unregistered trailbikes around areas like Chancellor Park, sometimes with no helmet or protective gear on.

Insp Lewis said where possible, police tried to get trail bikes out to catch such offenders.

Originally published as Rider, 16, 'drunk on motorbike'