Mom arrested for letting her kids play outside.

[Major Nikon]

49. I seriously doubt you're going to provide me with news about bikes

I've been riding non-stop since I was a kid and I'm no spring chicken. And no, kids don't go "20 mph or faster" on bikes. At my age I average 18 mph on around 50 miles per week and I'm going a helluva lot faster than a grammar school kid on a Huffy. This is on a dedicated road bike and NOT through neighborhoods. Cyclists who are world class athletes are doing good to average 25 mph, and again this is NOT through neighborhoods. If you think 8 year olds are typically going "20 mph or faster" on their Schwin through residential neighborhoods, then you have a very poor understanding of biking in general. An adult on a road bike in good shape will typically average between 15-20 mph on improved side roads (not neighborhood roads). Adults in less than optimum shape on a hybrid or mountain bike will typically average 10mph or less and young kids on single speed bikes average slower than that. Furthermore there's plenty of stupidity to go around with bikes as well which is a different subject. Many don't wear helmets. Many ride on sidewalks because their parents tell them it's "safer" than being on the street. It isn't. And the reason has little to do with pedestrian traffic. There are plenty of multi-use paths which were specifically designed for pedestrians and bikes that aren't much different than sidewalks as far as width goes. The biggest reason is because when you start traveling faster down a path where car drivers aren't expecting you to be, accidents are the predictable result.

Kids riding bikes on sidewalks and breaking other traffic laws is also illegal and monumentally stupid, but I don't call the cops on them because at least I have a decent chance of seeing and avoiding them. Several models of battery powered stand up scooters are capable of 20mph and faster and they have no problem achieving this speed in residential neighborhoods. This is on level ground and they are just as quiet, if not more so, than bikes. Some gas motorized stand up scooters can go faster than 30mph. Sit down scooters(mopeds) and small motorcycles can go 50-60mph. There's no way this compares to a kid on a Schwin. And it's not as if they are obeying traffic laws so speed is not the only issue. They ride up and down driveways, sidewalks, rarely wear protective gear, never signal turns, rarely stop at stop signs, and rarely yield the right of way. In short, they do the same stupid things kids do on bikes, except they are going an order of magnitude faster. That's why riding unlicensed, uninspected motorized vehicles by unlicensed drivers on public roads is illegal in most municipalities.

As far as my neighbors go, I'm already very outgoing. I know roughly 30 families in my neighborhood on more than just a casual basis. This is because I do a lot of volunteer work at the school and because our neighborhood has two block parties each year which I almost always participate. So I already am very engaging with my neighbors, but most of them just don't care to reciprocate which is fine by me, but I really don't feel this is my fault.