This will not end well

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

So, the neighbors across the street and one door down? Their kid is tooling around the neighborhood on a four-wheeler.

Kid in question cannot be older than 6 or 7.

Four-wheeler may be full-sized, or it may not. I know for a fact it isn't a Power Wheels or anything like that--it's got a gas engine.

And he's zipping around on this thing up and down the sidewalk (pretty sure this is very illegal; as is operating a four-wheeler on city streets) with no parental supervision. Not that that's any surprise. We're talking about people who let their kids roam the neighborhood unsupervised, climb into their cars and monkey around, once even managing to start one of the cars.

But if anybody comes down the street faster than these people think they should be going, they're hollering at the driver to slow down because there's kids around.

Their house is up for sale. It cannot sell fast enough. Stupid slow local housing market.

[Chromatix]

Anything petrol-powered under unsupervised control of anyone under about mid-teens is a Bad Idea. On Steroids.

[Grape The Cat]

Yeah, i have a bad feeling about this, as well. These people need to supervise their kids for the good of everyone, because if they continue to let their kids to sh-t like this unsupervised something bad will happen.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Is it even legal for a kid that young to be on it by himself in the first place?

[Android Kaeli]

When I lived up in MD a few years ago, it was illegal for anyone under the age of 16 to even sit on a gas powered four-wheeler [I could be wrong on this, it's been a while since I've been to MD].

Now it could've been just my area or the neighbors but as long as the kids weren't super young [younger then ten or eleven] or there was an adult and/or group of people keeping watch, no one cared. Then again, there was probably only three or four places that owned four-wheelers, including the people that shared a backyard fence with my home.

And the people who owned said four-wheelers, didn't let their kids run rampet with the things either. The kids knew that if they did decide to go all crazy on the street with the four-wheelers, mommy and daddy would sell their toy in a heartbeat.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Is it even legal for a kid that young to be on it by himself in the first place?

I think it depends on your locality.

I just googled for local laws here in NC. What it basically says (as of December 2005) is:

1) Children under 8 are not allowed to operate an ATV

2) Children between 8 and 15 are allowed to only with adult supervision (and there are size limitations based on engine displacement)

3) All operators, including adults, MUST wear protective gear (ie, helmets and facial protection.)

And we also have an update as of October 2006 that all ATV operators born on or after Jan. 1, 1990 must have a safety certificate showing that they have successfully passed a certified ATV safety course.

Our state is very strict on this . . . we've had several incidents happen in recent years involving children and ATV's.

[DeltaSierra]

I'd call the cops and ask them if they could swing by the next time - this could very well end up fatal for the child.

[blas]

It's a Wisconsin thing. Most kids around here are on 4 wheelers before they are even wearing regular underwear.

And every year, kids get in bad accidents with them.

[zombiequeen]

My church's youth pastor's son almost kills himself on a 4 wheeler every year. This year he broke his arm, last year it was a concussion, year before I think it was his collarbone...And the pastor is all like "He's on a kiddie sized one (read: not quite big enough for hauling) so he'll be fine."
Kid's had like two surgeries for injuries he's gotten on that thing.

[Solumina]

Yeah call the cops if you ever see that again, if parents aren't around that is negligence, kids that young can't be left to wander alone.

[Amina516]

Im with the call the cops crowd..however, if it is a Wisconsin thing like Blas says..idk that theyll care. Id hope so though.

[Racket_Man]

Kid in question cannot be older than 6 or 7.

Four-wheeler may be full-sized, or it may not. I know for a fact it isn't a Power Wheels or anything like that--it's got a gas engine.

And he's zipping around on this thing up and down the sidewalk (pretty sure this is very illegal; as is operating a four-wheeler on city streets) with no parental supervision. Not that that's any surprise. We're talking about people who let their kids roam the neighborhood unsupervised, climb into their cars and monkey around, once even managing to start one of the cars.

But if anybody comes down the street faster than these people think they should be going, they're hollering at the driver to slow down because there's kids around.

try dealing with the Power Wheels/battery powered Barbie/SUV/Harley/Hummer/GMC truck/Jeep things. the kids are just oblivious to traffic and they just zip down the driveway into the street sometimes with passangers. sometimes I see a convoy of 2 or 3 just itchin to ride around in the street.

AND YES no adult is in sight.

[blas]

Oh, the police do care about kids in the ATVs around here, and there are some nasty consequences. It's just that parents don't care. However, the nasty consequence is usually a young kid ending up in the hospital.

I remember not too many years ago, there were PSAs about kids and ATVs. It fell upon selectively deaf ears. After all, no one dares tell you how to raise your kids!