Mildly Infuriating

"Why aren't the kids going outside anymore?" "Why are there kids outside?!"

Let teens exist in public spaces for fuck's sake.

I mean banning teens seems a pretty good policy.

"Get off your phones and meet people your age in real life!" "Wait not like that!"

Feels like kids can't win these days.

As an Australian the problem is largely what you imagine.

An unregulated industry brought in bikes that were closer to motorbikes than pushbikes and parents didnt do their due diligence on it. The same industry also brought in a huge amount of bikes that were perfectly sane when stock but were literally childs play to turn into something closer to a motorbike. Now the vast majority of kids went out and did kid shit and they were slightly annoying, a not insignificant number of them got hurt, but there was no real outcry.

The govt as governments are want to do reacted way too fucking slowly in putting sane limitations on what could and couldnt be sold and hold manufacturers and importers accountable. In their defence partly because 90% of them are coming out of china and the govt arent idiots in that they know how easy it would be for an importer to find a new frontman and the Chinese manufacturer to rebrand and force them to play whackamole and partly because they are very popular among adults and people who arent riding them like dickheads AND they didnt want to look anti-green by discouraging people to find car alternatives.

But Here come the fuckwits like takeovers are to "legitimate" street racing on quiet backroads, kids started doing wheelies through shopping centers while filming it for the gram, deciding it would be funny to absolutely destroy the grass and surfacing on local sporting fields and swerving in and out of traffic in 80 zones.

Its not that the cops dont care, the cops know what the reality is that if they start trying to catch them, the kids will run and eventually someones "good boy who never hurt anyone and loved to laugh" is going "to be chased to his death over a modified E-bike and the police are the reason for his death" regardless of what prompted them to chase him in the first place.

All in all its a 3 layer shit sandwich.

I dunno, can't parents just keep their kids in a box till they're 18 and can become productive, compliant wage slaves, like everyone else.

/s

Just gotta keep making the world as hostile as possible to teenagers.

Because the school to prison pipeline can only do so much

So you can't talk online and you can't go out on a bike to meet your friends.

Just sounds like they want kids to be miserable. 

Australia, a prison state created for inmates, and perpetuated as such by their descendants. As a foreigner looking in, I think that Aussies would be best served by ditching the colonial prison mindset. You and the kids are allowed to have fun, if you ignore the specter of the Crown that created your nation.

...TLDR;

The answer is simple: ban teens

Maybe ban Australia from having people. Problem solved

“We really recognise the tremendous opportunity that ebikes can offer for getting anyone, including younger people, from A to B, independently,” McLean said. “[It] is a really, really positive thing that connects them to education, to work, to social things and communities as well.

“There’s lots of benefits that go along with them, but when we have really high powered ebikes and people driving them dangerously and without helmets, then they certainly pose a significant risk.”

Seems like a pretty balanced take honestly.

I met one of these teens on a train he showed me a few news clips he was in with like 100 other teens on ebikes and scooters lol

Seems like a pretty big logical leep to link the two things.

I know exactly how to solve this "problem" .... Convert the golf courses into bike tracks.

Just wait until all those teen grow up and figure out that old farts on social media are responsible.

Let me rephrase: Australians concerned about children on vehicles that can go 25mph with no requirement for a license or training.

I hope Australian kids annoy adults enough that this moral panic about social media dies from adults just giving up because kids resort to even more annoying behavior, that would be poetic justice.

Just ban teenagers. 🤷‍♂️

all yall folk running hamburger software: 25kph is around 15mph and change. 4 minute miles. Really fast sprints.

In my community a couple of years ago some middle aged guy assaulted a teen who was riding his Surron (non peddle ebike/motorcycle) in the park. Was he speeding? Probably, but that doesn't excuse what that twat did. For the most part kids on these types of bikes aren't the problem.

Our real problem has been pre teens on 110cc dirt bikes. They ride in groups and have been literally terrorizing people. I talked to one lady who had to put her horse down when they scared it and caused it to break a leg. Then they laughed at her and rode off. The police can't catch them, though they've tried, but not that hard since they could actually do some simple detective work if they wanted to

Beware! The anti fun police are in effect!