Child Dies In Quad Bike Accident

Originally Posted by hovis

its idoits like this that spoil it for the proper off roaders.

I fail to see either the logic or the relevance of your comment at this point mate?

Ok it was illegal for those kids to be riding their quads on the public road. I accept that. The father thought that him driving in front for the kids to follow on a largely desserted road would be a safe gamble to take.

Sadly his thinking can now be seen to be flawed due to a 1 in a million type accident. It is too tragic for words really and I feel for the parents and the poor woman...who is known to the parents of the dead child.

I am open minded about prosecution of the father and think that perhaps the folly and consequences of his actions might be sending out a strong enough message as it is.

It seems as though prosecution for the Father is a bit late. What do they do? give him a suspended sentence, if he kills the other one in the same way, he goes to prison

I feel rather sorry for the woman who was driving the Range Rover. She knew the family and taught the little girl at school. How can she live with that?

Last year the same thing happened quite close to my house. It was all forgotten quite soon.

Kids should not be riding quads or bikes on a public road, but where did we all start? I know I did anyway.

[Balky001]

Originally Posted by Pedrosa

Ok it was illegal for those kids to be riding their quads on the public road. I accept that. The father thought that him driving in front for the kids to follow on a largely desserted road would be a safe gamble to take.

Sadly his thinking can now be seen to be flawed due to a 1 in a million type accident. It is too tragic for words really and I feel for the parents and the poor woman...who is known to the parents of the dead child.

I am open minded about prosecution of the father and think that perhaps the folly and consequences of his actions might be sending out a strong enough message as it is.

I agree with you Peter, he took a chance which was poorly judged and led to tragic consequences which he never thought would become a reality - I don't think prosecuting the father is in the public's or the victim's interests. Hopefully it will raise awareness of the dangers of quad bikes ridden on the road by children and bring the risks home to the parents who allow them to ride.

[Bluepete]

However devastatig this tragic sequence of events was for all concerned, lets not forget, SOMEONE DIED!
In the circumstances reported in the article, I fail to see how a prosecution could fail. Just look at the ages of the kids, loocation, types of vehicle, where the parent appeared to be.
Yes, he will suffer in his heart for it, but the courts should decide if he was to blame for the death by his innaction or neglect.

[Ruffy]

From what's in the article, there wasn't proper supervision aiming to observe and protect these kids, this was basically just hoping the kids would be alright while they fetched granny in the big car.

16 year olds have to do a minimum full day's CBT with an instructor to ride on the road. These kids must have had maybe a couple of hours practice, even without questioning lower competence due to age?!!!

Such a shame that common sense and money don't always go together. This is hardly a borderline case of bad judgement, though. So, IMHO, these parents should be prosecuted if they have broken a law and directly led to this death.

Originally Posted by hovis

its idoits like this that spoil it for the proper off roaders.

Comment well made. Rather a narrow minded and selfish response I'd say.

[tonyk]

i think that everone who posted a commet on this subject have not relised one major thing......

the girl was 7 years old .........................
7 years old
7 years old
thats a child for gods sake.......

what does a 7 year old know ? road sense ? speed ? safetey ? ................
look around you and see 7 year olds at school and think about one of them
on a 100 cc quad following u in your car down a dark lane !!!!

i feel sorry for their parents but would u,
would any one do the same ????????????

Originally Posted by tonyk

i think that everone who posted a commet on this subject have not relised one major thing......

the girl was 7 years old .........................
7 years old
7 years old
thats a child for gods sake.......

what does a 7 year old know ? road sense ? speed ? safetey ? ................
look around you and see 7 year olds at school and think about one of them
on a 100 cc quad following u in your car down a dark lane !!!!

i feel sorry for their parents but would u,
would any one do the same ????????????

I personaly didn't loose sight of the fact the girl was seven. Would I do the same? Not down a public road no.

My in-laws are French, where population is similar to the UK but the country is twice the size of the cramped wee island we live on. Land is cheap and people tend to have much bigger gardens, paddocks attached to houses, etc and miles of wee farm tracks criss crossing the countryside. Many of the kids age 6-7 upwards have wee quads, you can buy them in any supermarket for 300 quid.

50cc or 100cc doesn't matter 'cos you set how far the throttle can be opened with a screw mechanism, it's a thumb push, but compare it to a twist grip on a bike. Doesn't matter if it's 100cc if the kid can only physically twist he grip by 1/4 inch. You can set them to do no more than crawl along at 5mph at max 1500 revs if you want. You give them more power as and when you see fit - "Daddy, when can I have my Quad going faster?", "When your eight we'll make it a bit faster"

As well as that you are with them with a remote control kill switch which you hit as soon as they deviate from the path they've been told to take. They soon learn to ride exactly how and where you've told them, 'cos they don't want daddy to hit the kill switch and spoil thier fun. It's more fun to do as thier told and be allowed to continue riding.

The picture is of a 7 year old. This on on my brother in laws driveway, but she drives in the garden, in fields and on farm tracks and she's competent and she behaves 'cos she knows daddys holding the kill switch and watching like a hawk.

Kids of seven can ride these things at the Scottish motorcycle show, it how you control the environment and your assessment of the childs capabilities, both physically and mentally that matters.

how sad. It was obviously a foolish thing to do, but to put him in an overpopulated prison doesnt seem necessary, he will punish himself enough I'm sure.

My kids ride a 100cc quad, on private land and supervised by their dad. We are not together, and I always worry that he supervises them properly, and I rely on him making proper decisions about their safety in my abscense ... this story emphasises my concerns that even as a parent, people can make decisions that something should be ok, when obviously it is not.

It took me several minutes to decide whether to read the story, I shall certainly be repeating it to my kids dad.

Again, very sad

[tonyk]

i'm sorry but i really must be a old fuddy duddy........
when my kids were 7 year olds i would never have let them even cross the road by them selfs.........
maybe i'm just too over the top....worry worry worry......
so hearing a child riding on the road is really beyond me...........

i'm getting too old for this.

and for sending the parent to prison / for how long ? / for ever ?
untill he knows it was wrong ? / untill he showes remorse ?
whats the point now ?