The Home Secretary has announced that children who break the law on mini-motorbikes will be prosecuted as adults - and may incur penalty points against as-yet unissued licences.
The points will be held on file and activated when the child reaches 17, ruining his or her chances of getting a cheap car insurance quote. Some new drivers will struggle to find cover at any cost, as offences they committed nine or ten years ago come back to haunt them.
This is part of a package of measures designed to tackle the problem of illegal mini-moto use on British streets and pavements and in public parks. Few parents who buy these bikes as presents realise that they can only legally be ridden on private land, and then only with permission from the land- owner.
Use anywhere else requires road tax and motor insurance - and a rider old enough to have passed their test. Yet mini -motos are marketed as children's toys, and imported Chinese bikes (which are currently flooding the UK market) regularly change hands for less than the price of an X-Box or PlayStation.
Home Secretary John Reid said, "There are a lot of parents who still don't know it is illegal and think it is just a bit of fun. These bikes are not a bit of fun - they are a danger to the local community and to the young people driving them."
But the policy has come under fire from groups who believe that stocking-up on penalty points just encourages more 17-year-olds to ride without a licence or motorbike insurance.
According to Alastair at www.insidebikes.com, "[one] wonders whether that system is workable, or even likely to deter someone who has no intention of ever taking a driving test."