Editor�s Note

It�s the school vacation (well, it is still as I write this) and one of the ways you can tell is the number of kids riding motorcycles. Not just teens: kids.

Yesterday, I counted three pre-teens perched precariously atop shiny new mini-motorcycles (mopeds we call them in the UK). That was on the way home from work and in my soi. Fair enough � not too much traffic and some, albeit limited, adult supervision.

However, today I saw one girl of about 15 shooting past traffic on the inside lane during rush-hour traffic on a main road, and she wasn�t wearing a crash helmet or even jeans to protect her in the event of a topple or worse.

Is it me, or does anyone else see anything wrong with this picture? I

count two things. First, while I understand that there is some age limit on main roads, it�s clearly not enforced. I dread to think how an inexperienced rider would cope with the unexpected on busy city roads. Second, where are parents getting the money to afford such luxury items for their kids? Wouldn�t the money be better spent on their kids� education? Or at the very least, if parents can afford a motorcycle, can�t they afford a crash helmet?

Well, all of this makes me sound very grown-up and something of a killjoy. But having had several friends die in car accidents and knowing of four people in Thailand who have died in motorcycle accidents, it�s kind of worrying, isn�t it?

That�s a rhetorical question and something to think about, I hope.

Happy reading.

Matt Leppard, Editor
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