Madonna King: Is it time we ban kids from riding high-powered bikes?

Push bikes have become machines, taking over our footpaths, cycle lanes and roadways, with their unlicensed children racing at irresponsible speeds and showing off, writes Madonna King.

Sunday Mail columnist Madonna King. Picture David Clark

When did a push bike become a machine; a powerful vehicle fitted with an engine allowing travel at breakneck speeds?

Why are we allowing them to take up space on our footpaths? Or be fitted with big fat tyres more suited to motorbikes?

And when will schools take a stance and say these machines are not suitable for 12-year-olds, and have no place in schoolyard bike racks?

This is not a whinge about cyclists. That’s a column for another day - although it might take pages to log the the examples of unregistered cyclists haranguing drivers, simply trying to keep their distance…

This is a warning to law makers that they are allowing children of all ages to drive - not ride - these monsters of bikes, now taking over our cities.

These bikes are not registered. No laws outline where they can travel. And third party insurance is irrelevant.

And yet, they are taking over our footpaths, our cycle lanes and our roadways, with their unlicensed owners racing at irresponsible speeds and showing off, with wheelies.

Indeed, this fairly polite diatribe has been prompted by dual performances - wheelies by children on a busy bridge linking Southport to Main Beach on the Gold Coast, and a group of speeding children, in uniform, taking over pedestrian walkways, on their way to school.

Pictured in Manly are young people using the hugely popular DiroDi Rover E- Bike. Picture: Richard Dobson

Just consider the accidents, emergencies and deaths we’ve seen as a result of scooters joining our transport system; vehicles that carry rules, require helmets, are brightly coloured and speed restricted.

These vehicles are more like quad bikes, and injuries and deaths relating to those have filled headlines, prompted inquiries and resulted in millions of dollars being spent on safety campaigns.

That should provide our law makers with a red alert on what will happen, down the track, with this new breed of high-performance bikes, ridden by children still unable to pronounce or spell puberty.

(And as an aside, why would any parent allow or encourage a 12-year-old to ride a bike with this much power? Pedals should not be seen as decoration, but as a means of promoting exercise and a healthy lifestyle).

In a world where so much requires fixing, this might be a low priority on politicians’ hit lists.

But is it?

What happens when an elderly gent, out for a morning walk, is ploughed down by a machine, masquerading as a bike?

What happens when a car collides with a 10-year-old, on a motor way, riding the vehicle he received for his birthday?

These are not bikes.

These are machines that are unregistered, ridden by drivers who are unlicensed, on roads where they should be forbidden.

And ignoring the issue - as parents, as policy makers and as politicians - is not going to make it disappear.

It’s easy to hark back to the romance of the Malvern Star. Mine was purple, and aged 11, it was the most expensive birthday present I ever received.

An e-bike for sale on the Gold Coast via Facebook Marketplace

It had white handles, with plastic ribbons that dangled from each side. Shiny and new, I wanted to hide it in my bedroom, not the garage.

This isn’t about that. Time moves on, and so does taste and technology.

But the current explosion in what is masquerading as bicycles needs an almighty check.

So many parents write to me bemoaning the laws around social media and the impact of smart phones on a generation not yet equipped to deal with them.

And they are right, on every front.

But why is this any less dangerous - to both our children and others they encounter?

What position is your child in, if they have an accident while speeding down a pedestrian path on one of these motorised machines?

What chance do they stand, doing a wheelie on a Gold Coast bridge, as cars and trucks race by within centimetres of them?

And yet, few of these children are buying these vehicles out of their pocket money.

They are being purchased and ridden with parental support, and allowed to be ‘parked’ at schools.

Remember - they are unregistered, unlicensed, and carry no third party insurance.

Am I the only one seeing a recipe for disaster?

Or, as parents and policy makers, are we now too scared to say ‘no’?

The old Malvern Star might not boast the same speed. But more often than not, slow and steady wins the race.

Originally published as Madonna King: Is it time we ban kids from riding high-powered bikes?