Teenage Son Riding Problems

[Velocivixen]

I don't have kids, so take this with a grain of salt. You could tell him that if he cannot demonstrate safe and responsible riding abilities with his bike then he definitely cannot get his automobile driver's permit/license.

Our major trauma hospital in Portland has a program called "Trauma Nurses Talk Tough" with various programs that will scare the sh*t out of most folks. It's graphic and you definitely walk away thinking about things a lot more.

[tulip]

See if there is a bicycling class offered by the League of American Bicyclists in your area (they are "in the middle of nowhere") and make him take it.

He may have a right to the road, but he doesn't have the right to be an self-centered azzhole and to put his life in danger and his family in a position where they (you) could quite conceivably have to deal with tragedy. Maybe you should tell him that.

The trauma nurse idea is a great one. Or make him volunteer in a brain injury clinic or workshop.

[redrhodie]

What about getting him involved with a group? He'd have to follow the rules, and would learn skills to make him better/faster, etc. He might even find it fun.

I found this club in NE:

http://greatplainsbikeclub.org/index.html

[lph]

Find him a FB page or a newspaper article with bikehating comments. Maybe that will help him understand that even though he "has a right to the road too", cyclists have to behave even better than drivers in traffic to survive.

Actually I think taking away his bikes and driving privileges should do a lot. Until he can demonstrate safe riding or driving he has no business on the road. It's a privilege you have to earn.

My son, soon 14, has a thing for riding handsfree. He's good at it and he likes to show off. Deal for now is that he can do so on the bike path or on logging roads, but not while passing anyone, and if we catch him doing it on a regular road he's in trouble. He's one of the few kids in his class to wear a helmet... Maybe because he saw his dad get a bad concussion from riding once without one, maybe because he knows that I know his friends, and will find out if he tries to skip it.