Dealer anger at doctor’s bike ban call
Friday 23rd October 2009, 2:29PM BST.
MOTORBIKE dealers are outraged at the suggestion that 14-year-olds should no longer be allowed to ride.
Director of public health Stephen Bridgman’s annual report suggested the law should change to stop the youngsters riding 50cc machines.
His report said that between 1997 and 2008, 87 14-year-old riders were hospitalised. So were 67 15-year-olds and 38 16-year-olds.
But Trev’s Motorcycles owner Trevor Hockey (pictured) said Dr Bridgman was misinformed and that no 14-year-old had died as a result of a motorcycle accident in the last 30 years.
‘He says that Guernsey needs to come into line with France and Spain, but 14-year-olds ride mopeds there,’ said Mr Hockey.
If implemented, the recommendation would, he said, have an impact on his business.
‘Most long-term motorbike dealers have a great interest in road safety as safer roads mean better business.’
He asked what the statistics were for young horse riders’ injuries.
‘You can get thrown off your horse but that doesn’t count. He is running an inaccurate campaign, which is unfair and unjustified.
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It should be 18 for all motor vehicles
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Its a bit rich for Trevor Hockey to bring horses into the argument.
I don’t know any that are capable of the best part of 70 MPH either. If any posters do then please let me know. I will be dabbling in the race horse business as my next lucrative venture!
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I am 31 and at the age of 14 had a bike and when i look back i can tell you that 14 is far to young, i came off mine far to many times and it was mostly my fault.
I think the age that you should be aloud to start riding a bike is 17 and not before.
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That’s like asking a drug dealer his opinion on the open sale of heroin. Duhh…
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Maybe I’m misinformed, but the way this page reads – 87 14 yr olds were hospitalised, no one mentioned killed until Trevor did
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Statistics must be interpreted very carefully as they can misrepresent a situation. These numbers look far worse because they’re taken over 11 years. 87x 14yr olds during these 11 years is only one [for unspecified injuries] each 6 or 7 weeks; not nice for the patient but hardly worthy of advocating significant changes to laws or unnecessary restrictions. The total for all those under 16 years is one each 3 weeks.
And what does ‘hospitalised’ mean – admitted to the hospital for days or weeks or passing through the Emergency Department. And what are these injuries? Sprains & strains, abrasions or fractures etc. How many fatality incidents where there involving these youths? Might these injuries also be consistent with many others our young people sustain each week in their unrestricted sporting activities and other pastimes?
Where did these injuries happen and what are ALL the contributing factors? If people are really serious, there’s plenty of scope to investigate each of these incidents involving all stakeholders [rider groups & individuals, community groups; medico’s and the police etc] to identify all contributing factors, and trends if any, to see if we really do have a problem before perhaps jumping to inappropriate conclusions and recommendations.
My 2 cents worth from a long way away.
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But how many of those 14 yo A&E cases were caused by someone knocking them off their bike? Of course the figures will be lower come 16 to 18 – at 16 they possibly haven’t passed their test so their license runs out and at 17 upwards they get a car. Leave the age as it is but bring the provisional license length of time down and make it compulsary to take a test within 8 months of getting a provisional – it’s not as if you need a co-rider to take you out unlike a car!
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I have witnessed the results of numerous road accidents, many of which involved mopeds or motor bikes. Children (and that is whay 14 year olds are) are not mature or experienced enough to predict the consequences of their actions when riding at hiher speeds and this is paid out with the trauma I and my colleagues have to witness.
The selfishness of Mr Hockey to put the sale of a few mopeds against the health and well being of the young is beyond belief. I am a regular visitor to spain with numerous friedns also working in hospitals. They relate similar and opten more horrifying examples of motor bike accidents with their youth.
The statistics if anything are underplayed as many young who injure themselves in a minor way do not seek hospitalisation (when in some cases they should).
The sooner this law is debated and changed the better. I am sure many guernsey parents will refute it as they would have to take on the burden of driving their child to and from places. They may also say their child is adult and mature enough. But it is the other road users, the changing road conditions, the roads themselves which are dangerous also.
As to horse riding – when that is a pathetic xomparison. I don’t remember terribly many horses slamming into other cars at 25 ot even 35 MPH. Let also horses doing wheelies along the esplanades or sliding sidewards along roads, tripping on curbs or just falling over because they loose their balance when they come to a stop. I have witnessed the trauma of all of the above with mopeds in my career. He is right however, horses can be unpredictable and accidents with these animals do occur. In my area, I see alot of young children learning to ride or riding their horses along teh road. They are always with a adult and never at a gallop.
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Let’s put this into prospective A&E at the weekend will deal with any number of cases of injuries through excessive use of alcohol and this is week after week, all the year round at a huge cost to our health service. These youngsters have been riding motor cycles at 14 for years, it is the same age as those on the mainland in France our closest neighbour, so when the good doctor says he wants to bring us into line with the mainland, he must mean England. I want us to think for ourselves and do the right thing for Guernsey I want the motorcycles to be quieter of course but that’s a different argument. You will also need to see the stats for sports injuries to youngsters or those injured through play or in the home to get a real comparison and costs to the health service, on balance and on this occasion I will not be voting to change the age nor will I support the banning of duty free.
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Wot Dave Jones says. Health are on seriously sticky ground using A&E stats.
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Dave
Fair play to you, I agree with every word that you’ve said. I had a bike at 14, a proper one not a moped, and neither I nor any of my many friends who also had bikes ever had an accident of any seriousness. I did break my leg playing cricket though, and two of my friends broke legs playing football. Yet another one broke a leg skiing, and there were numerous cases of more minor injuries such as broken fingers, too many to mention individually. I wish these sterile people, who seem to want to take all the risks (and therefore fun) out of life, would clear off back to where they came from and let us get on with life in the way that we always have done. We want less laws governing our behaviour, not more!!
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Bothered about the health aspect, what about the fact that it seems virtually every kid on a bike has dismantled the silencer in a vain attempt to mirror Valentino Rossi? I truly believe the noise created by these bikes is a menace to 90% of the local population.
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I’d have thought that there could be a fairly good solution to this…..
Dont raise the age, but make the 14 year olds take the equivalent of a full bike test (but still with the current prescribed maximum cc limit) rather than the CBT.
No unsupervised road riding until the test is passed.
That way the kids learn exactly what they need to learn to be out on the road, plus the extra expense might put off the parents who just buy their kids a moped solely for an easy life.
Also clamp down on offenses, 1 strike and your out until 17, that might make the ones who do mess about on the road (and there are plenty that do) think about what they are doing a little more.
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The Man, the CBT is not instead of a test, the CBT has to be completed before a rider is allowed on the road, and to get a full licence they have to take a full bike test. The problem lies when they are allowed 2 years on a provisional licence then if that runs out they can apply for another 2 years the rider should be only given a year if they cant get a full licence in that time no new provisional should be given for at least another year.
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John
I understand that the CBT is not instead of a test, but my point was that for a 14 year old to get on the road at all they should have to pass a full test, the CBT should only come into play once you reach 17.
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Greg, agree 100% with you on the noise issue as hearing lawnmowers screaming past my house every day is certainly an annoyance! Even so, I don’t see that as justification in itself to stop people riding at 14 – that’s using the proverbial sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Surely making them put the silencers back on with appropriate punishments for non-compliance is sufficient?
On another note, I really have a problem with calling a 14 year old a child and cotton-wooling them beyond belief – historically that was never the case. Take the case of David Farragut, an American midshipman who in 1812 was given command of a captured British whaling ship, eventually rising to the first Admiral in the US Navy. I’m certainly not saying we should send 12 year olds to war, or even to work but to suggest that someone two years older isn’t able to handle a moped is ludicrous! In fact I’d venture to suggest one of the major causes for this regression is the constant cotton-wooling of young people – some healthy risk is good for you!
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Paul, agreed…..i’m presuming the police are too understaffed to have a good go at sorting out the problem.
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The Man
How can a rider pass a test before he goes on the road he needs road experience to do so, the Compusary Basic Training is just that training to be able to go on the road to pass a test
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“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics” (Disralie).’
Does the new health director take any risks in life? Life is one big risk and our children need to learn how to risk assess. Should we ban climbing trees, swimming in the sea without coastguards, horse riding, trampolining, sailing; sport of any kind, having fun, living …..
This report would have made more sense if it was placed in context. 192 people between the ages of 14-16 required treatment in A&E over an 11 year period: that is 17.45 a year or 1.45 per month. That is not a MAJOR risk. Were they all badly injured or did they just have scratches/bruises? What would have made more sense was to report on the types of things people did attend A&E for as a whole. I would bet that alcohol fueled far more accidents – as probably did accidents in the park or children playing generally (shall we ban playing). How many adults had accidents in cars/motorbikes over the same period and what about comparison of injuries: i.e. did they stay in hospital as opposed to patching up and being sent home? How many workplace accidents did the island have; how many people attended through drug abuse; depression; domestic abuse; assault; sport?
We need to teach our children right from wrong; how to behave sensibly and the consequences if they don’t – not just ban things because they may cause harm ….. because in the majority of cases they do not!
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John
I answered that in my original post.
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Yes lets move the age to 18 so that all those 14-18 years old are getting run over while walking around. Ahh then lets ban walking and make it compulsory to take cars everywhere there so much safer!!!
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In all fairness, i think the bike age limit now is fine, i think that if people want to have a bike/scooter whatever at 14 they should have to pass there real driving test for that vehicle and should not be allowed to drive with provisionals. If however the age should change then i think 16 is an appropriate age!
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