|
Oh boy, it’s feeling like summertime now. Once those temperatures start hitting the triple digits here in the valleys you know that you’re in Southern California and an escalated amount of Beach Boy’s tunes will soon be permeating the airwaves. The good vibrations that lured us here resurface for the season that we are known for.
Sure, I could wax poetic about all the fabulous reasons to be in So Cal in the summertime, but with things like the wildfire season getting an early start, and gas and electric prices still sky high, it’s a little hard to stay completely positive. So while everything in this season in this state may not be golden it sure beats a lot of the alternatives. You just have to take the good with the bad.
Every summer there is always some new little activity that is all the rage, and this year is no different. If you haven’t seen it on the news, on the streets, or almost hit one while driving, it’s referred to as a “pocket rocket.” What is a “pocket rocket” you may ask? Well, it is a miniature motorcycle that runs off a lawnmower engine whose handlebars are about the same height as a tricycle. When I was a kid growing up we had them too, but we called them mini bikes. The big difference being that the ones from my youth were archaic by comparison.
The mini bike was nothing more than a skeletal metal frame with an engine attached, no bells or whistles. Usually you built it yourself, with your dad, or if you knew somebody who was selling one could pick one up for $25.00 tops. These new “pocket rockets” actually look like real motorcycles down to every little detail. The average cost for one ranges from $200.00 to $1,000.00. What a difference 35 years makes. Slap on a new coat of paint and everything old is new again.
Back when I was a kid, to be honest, how it looked wasn’t important. It was the fact that it had an engine attached to it and it addressed our need for some extra speed. It was also that so few of your friends had one, so when somebody was lucky enough to get one they immediately became very popular. Unfortunately, my parents knew something dangerous when they saw it, and my popularity status remained where it was at the time.
The marketing of the “pocket rockets” is meant to attract young boys in the 11 to 17 year old range with its advertising and flashy design and colors of the bikes themselves. Luckily, my son hasn’t said word one about getting one yet. Probably because it hasn’t been featured in a video game or has had a show dedicated to it on Comedy Central or MTV. Which is just as well because he won’t be getting one any time in the near future because there is something that the advertisers and retail outlets who are selling them aren’t telling the consumers.
You see, just like the mini bikes of my time, these things aren’t legal to ride on the city streets regardless of what age you are. In fact, just like the motorized scooters that have been all the rage with the unsupervised youth in our area over the last couple of years, they are not meant to be ridden by anyone under the age of 16 ever. The only time they are legal is if you are over age 16 and in an off road environment. If you are caught doing otherwise your rocket will be grounded, confiscated, and the rider will be ticketed.
Based on the amount of people I’ve seen just in the last couple of weeks riding them on residential streets either the word hasn’t gotten out yet or it’s a “they won’t catch me” attitude adopted by both the kids and adults alike, and when I say adults I mean their parents. They are the core of the problem by the fact that they not only have purchased the bikes and allow their kids to ride them unsupervised, but have demonstrated their disregard for the law by riding the bikes themselves.
As a matter of fact, the last two of these “rockets” that I almost hit while driving down nearby residential streets have been driven by adults. Of course they are also not wearing a helmet or any protective gear whatsoever, but why should they? Just by being on their little “rocket” on a city street they are breaking the law. So if the kids are seeing their parents breaking the law what message is that sending? It’s telling them it’s ok to do what they want to when they want to. That also tells me that in the near future the kids in their households will either be running the show or end up in jail.
The only reasons I didn’t hit those clowns on their “rockets” was because I was able to see them because of (a) their size and (b) because they looked so ridiculous. Had they been kids I don’t know if they or I would have been so lucky. If it had been a 12-year-old kid I would never had seen them coming around the end of the parked cars on the street. Maybe I should have hit those parents instead of swerving to miss them. That way they couldn’t pass their stupid genes onto any future generations because they are obviously too ignorant to be raising kids.
Look, the summer is a season that we look forward to all year long. We all want to go on our vacations and kick back and enjoy it on the weekends. I know that your little motorized toys are a blast to ride, but ride them where they are designed to be used, off road. If you think your kid is capable of riding these things and they aren’t 16 yet, take them someplace to ride where we, the legal drivers on the road, don’t become part of the equation in their safety. Driving in this area is bad enough as it is without having to watch out for motorized gnats popping out from behind a parked car.
Although the living may not always be easy in the summertime, it does not need to be deadly due to a lack of good judgment or parenting skills.
The Shrub Speaks: I want to be the peace president. Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July 20, 2004
B.D.’s Response: Who’s flip-flopping now. Start a war, become the Peace President. It just doesn’t work.
|
