6 year old on a dirt bike in traffic…
- Thread starter gsm.terra
- Start date
So, the header says, 'A four year old'. The comentry says, A six year old on a dirt bike'. The writing underneath says.' A young child on an electric scooter'.
This is a great example of the sensationalism and lack of accuracy in reporting these days (especially where eapc's are concerned). How can one trust anything but what one has experienced for onself?
This is a great example of the sensationalism and lack of accuracy in reporting these days (especially where eapc's are concerned). How can one trust anything but what one has experienced for onself?
Nothing. You don't know the circumstances of her being there. Through all we know she could could have been happily riding around her front fenced garden, when somebody came in to abduct her, so she escaped through the open gate and rode for her life until she was clear. She was wearing a proper helmet and looked pretty confident on the bike, so you might assume that her parents were responsible and made sure that she was properly trained to ride it.
It is good to be generous minded like you are and to give people the benefit of the doubt...
I am rather less accepting of really bad parenting and am thinking about how much supervision they gave the child - looks like none at all, and also how we should regard a parent who gave a child of that age an electric bike in direct contravention of the law - assuming the bike was ridden on the road.
Yes - in the real world any six year old might leave the home premises and get out in the wild, but most parents would have sought to prevent that and not equipped them with a mobility device to enhance their travelling ability.
I'd say the parents were very lax and irresponsible and should be under supervision themselves after this incident.
Until we know the circumstances, we can't say or assume anything, neither can you justify any assumptions about her parents. We have three facts. She was riding where she shouldn't. She was wearing a fairly decent helmet. She looked competent in her ability to ride it.
This reminds me of the old management training test, which was something like this:
Given facts
A man went into a shop
A gun was shown
Money was demanded
Money was handed over
A man was seen running away with a bag of money.
Questions
Was the robber a man?
How many robbers went into the shop?
Was the shopkeeper scared?
How many people were involved in the robbery?
Did a robber get away with the money?
Does crime pay?
Feel free to anser those questions.
I don't think I am going to try and answer speculative questions about an invented scenario which has nothing to do with the event we are discussing; a six year old child riding an electrically powered bike down a busy road in traffic - entirely unsupervised.
We are lucky that we are not discussing a tragedy in which the child lost her life.
I understand that you feel unwilling to condemn people we do not know. Being forgiving, is probably a virtue. Perhaps there are all kinds of pressures that led to the guardian/s of that child losing sight of what she was doing, but one thing is for sure - there was a massive failure in caring for her.
Sometimes we take different views of parental neglect. There was some startlingly generous treatment handed out to the family in a famous case where two professional people on holiday in Portugal with their small children, left them alone in an apartment, (I think... unlocked, but check that - it could be wrong) and went for dinner at a restaurant a short distance away. Apparently, the parents took turns to go and check the children from time to time during the evening. One of the children was abducted and has never been seen since.
At the time and many times since, I have been surprised that the reaction was mostly supportive of these people.
In other cases - perhaps because of our two tier justice system, rough working class women are often sent to prison for leaving their children unattended. They cetainly have their children taken away and are pilloried in the press - probably fair enough when you consider what could happen - but not everybody who does this gets that treatment..... Not in the case I mentioned for sure - and yet, as a parent myself and now a grandfather of five children I would NEVER have left them unsupervised.
I also don't know anyone who would buy an electric bike like that one and allow it to be in the unsupervised hands of a six year old. To do so is a massive failure of parental responsibility. What would we say if an infant school had allowed such a thing to happen?
Being a parent is tough, but you MUST exercise control and care or you will be held accountable.
We are lucky that we are not discussing a tragedy in which the child lost her life.
I understand that you feel unwilling to condemn people we do not know. Being forgiving, is probably a virtue. Perhaps there are all kinds of pressures that led to the guardian/s of that child losing sight of what she was doing, but one thing is for sure - there was a massive failure in caring for her.
Sometimes we take different views of parental neglect. There was some startlingly generous treatment handed out to the family in a famous case where two professional people on holiday in Portugal with their small children, left them alone in an apartment, (I think... unlocked, but check that - it could be wrong) and went for dinner at a restaurant a short distance away. Apparently, the parents took turns to go and check the children from time to time during the evening. One of the children was abducted and has never been seen since.
At the time and many times since, I have been surprised that the reaction was mostly supportive of these people.
In other cases - perhaps because of our two tier justice system, rough working class women are often sent to prison for leaving their children unattended. They cetainly have their children taken away and are pilloried in the press - probably fair enough when you consider what could happen - but not everybody who does this gets that treatment..... Not in the case I mentioned for sure - and yet, as a parent myself and now a grandfather of five children I would NEVER have left them unsupervised.
I also don't know anyone who would buy an electric bike like that one and allow it to be in the unsupervised hands of a six year old. To do so is a massive failure of parental responsibility. What would we say if an infant school had allowed such a thing to happen?
Being a parent is tough, but you MUST exercise control and care or you will be held accountable.
I don't think you can say that without knowing the circumstances. I would ask the question why the details weren't included in the article. To me, it seems click-baity. There are many scenarios that could have cause the girl to be in that situation. I already gave you one, but I can invent 100s more, where parents weren't in any way to blame. It's not about being generous or forgiving. It's simply wrong to judge until you know the facts. This is a very unusual event, so my logic says that something unusual must have happened to cause it, though there's nothing certain about that either.
Social media poppycock.
Police misinformation warning over girl's weapons arrest in Dundee
Footage of the alleged incident in Dundee has been circulating on social media.
www.bbc.co.uk
The only one that could be logically answered is the last one, possibly, but even that answer could not be based on the information given.
More here
www.dailyrecord.co.uk
Terrifying clip of child riding bike on busy Scots road sparks fear online
The incident happened outside a busy shopping centre as cars passed on the opposite side of the road during rush hour.
Did they give a reason for her being there. I can't view because it's behind a pay wall.More here
Terrifying clip of child riding bike on busy Scots road sparks fear online
The incident happened outside a busy shopping centre as cars passed on the opposite side of the road during rush hour.
The incident happened outside a busy shopping centre as cars passed on the opposite side of the road during rush hour.
John-Paul Clark
13:52, 21 Aug 2025Updated 15:36, 21 Aug 2025
Terrifying clip of child riding bike on busy Scots road sparks fear online
Alarming footage captured the moment a child was seen driving down a busy road in Livingston on an electric scooter.
The incident was reported to police at Almondvale Road in the town on Wednesday August 20, at around 4.55pm.
In the clip the child can be seen wearing a helmet and white top at the time - while rush hour traffic was in full swing.
The youngster manages to exit a roundabout beside The Centre - a busy shopping centre in the town - and weave across two lanes on the road.
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Two vehicles follow slowly behind the scooter with a bus up ahead, as cars pass on the opposite side of the dual carriageway.
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Police were eventually alerted to the incident and brought the bike to a stop.
It is believed the parents were out looking for them before joining police at the scene, before advice as provided by officers.
Shocked locals hit out online after the video was shared.
Jordan Sneddon, who uploaded the footage, said the child had ‘no business’ being on the road.
He said: "The kid had absolutely no business on a road like that."
Laura-Ann Robertson said: “Oh my god! My heart is in my mouth watching this."
Stacey Macdonald commented: "It's a 30mph road. I've just left there and it's mayhem at this time with rush hour traffic. It could've ended in a serious disaster."
Nicholson T Anne added: "Myself and another lady pulled over and stayed with the child until police and parents came. The parents had been out looking for them."
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 4.55pm on Wednesday, 20 August, 2025, officers received a report of a child riding an electric scooter in the Almondvale Road area of Livingston.
“The child was traced and advice was provided.”
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According to UK Government data there were 1,349 collisions involving e-scooters across the UK in 2022, with 1,437 casualties.
E-scooters are not permitted on public roads, pavements or other public spaces in Scotland, as they do not meet the necessary legal standards
Their use is only legal on private land with the landowner's consent.
Riding an e-scooter in public could result in fines, penalty points on a driving license, and the seizure of the scooter.
Thanks for that. They still didn't give the reason. I'd bet that they new what it was.The incident happened outside a busy shopping centre as cars passed on the opposite side of the road during rush hour.
John-Paul Clark
13:52, 21 Aug 2025Updated 15:36, 21 Aug 2025
Terrifying clip of child riding bike on busy Scots road sparks fear online
Alarming footage captured the moment a child was seen driving down a busy road in Livingston on an electric scooter.
The incident was reported to police at Almondvale Road in the town on Wednesday August 20, at around 4.55pm.
In the clip the child can be seen wearing a helmet and white top at the time - while rush hour traffic was in full swing.
The youngster manages to exit a roundabout beside The Centre - a busy shopping centre in the town - and weave across two lanes on the road.
Baby murder accused appears in court charged with infant's death at Scots hospital
Shoppers 'run' for £34 Primark autumn jacket that looks '£100s more expensive'
Two vehicles follow slowly behind the scooter with a bus up ahead, as cars pass on the opposite side of the dual carriageway.
Get culture and heritage stories for Scots everywhere plus selected offers and competitions
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info
Police were eventually alerted to the incident and brought the bike to a stop.
It is believed the parents were out looking for them before joining police at the scene, before advice as provided by officers.
Shocked locals hit out online after the video was shared.
Jordan Sneddon, who uploaded the footage, said the child had ‘no business’ being on the road.
He said: "The kid had absolutely no business on a road like that."
Laura-Ann Robertson said: “Oh my god! My heart is in my mouth watching this."
Stacey Macdonald commented: "It's a 30mph road. I've just left there and it's mayhem at this time with rush hour traffic. It could've ended in a serious disaster."
Nicholson T Anne added: "Myself and another lady pulled over and stayed with the child until police and parents came. The parents had been out looking for them."
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 4.55pm on Wednesday, 20 August, 2025, officers received a report of a child riding an electric scooter in the Almondvale Road area of Livingston.
“The child was traced and advice was provided.”
Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!
Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.
You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team.
All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in!
If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like.
To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
According to UK Government data there were 1,349 collisions involving e-scooters across the UK in 2022, with 1,437 casualties.
E-scooters are not permitted on public roads, pavements or other public spaces in Scotland, as they do not meet the necessary legal standards
Their use is only legal on private land with the landowner's consent.
Riding an e-scooter in public could result in fines, penalty points on a driving license, and the seizure of the scooter.
Yep, also that isn’t a scooter… for future reference, I use safari on my iPhone, reader mode gets you past the paywall, as does “hide distracting items”
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