“It is alright getting your child an electric bike for Christmas or a birthday but if they get killed on it, it is you that has to live with it for the rest of your life”
A Belfast barber has issued a warning to young people about the dangers of electric bikes and e-scooters as children are “flying about the town like Mad Max”.
Jay Miller’s brother Wayne died after a car hit him when he was just seven-years-old. The popular barber saying that he relives the trauma of his death every single day and can still hear the noise of him being hit by the vehicle.
He says that this trauma has led him to become concerned about the actions of some young people across Belfast and Northern Ireland due to the dangerous ways they have been riding electric bikes and e-scooters. He says he fears it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed.
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Speaking to Belfast Live, Jay said he has seen multiple incidents of young people riding dangerously on electric bikes and scooters all over the city and has called on parents to take responsibility to ensure their children are safe.
“I have been out doing a few videos with the homeless and kids are flying about on some of these bikes,” he said. “Even when I have been out in my car and van, I’ve seen so many young kids on the back wheel, no helmets on and obviously out of control.
“The thing about it is, its very worrying for drivers who are worried about knocking somebody down or kill somebody on an electric bike. There has been so much stuff that I have seen over the past couple of months it has been absolutely mental. I think some of the kids are out of control, and it is not just the kids but parents need to be responsible for what they are buying their children.
“I have spoken before about what happened to my younger brother when I was a child and it was heart wrenching, I am 44 now and it still haunts me every single day and if one kid gets killed on these electric bikes it is one too much.
“I think in England they are clearer on the law but we need the police, Stormont, communities and people on social media to come together to sort this thing out because it’s absolutely crazy.
“There are people flying about the town and all over the country like they are Mad Max. I have seen people on the Shankill, the Falls and they are even going up and down Royal Avenue. My video fella Aidan has seen a lot. The young ones jump on these and think there is no consequence when obviously everything does.
“This is why I felt the need to do videos with Aidan. At eight years old seeing my brother being knocked down, hearing that noise of a car hitting your brother and killing him outright, even the police woman that knocked him down, god help her she has had to live her whole life knowing she killed a child.
“I think a lot of young people it will never happen to them, and I thought the same about me and my brother, but it did and I live with the trauma of that loss every single day.
“My message for young people is to get rid of the bikes, it is not if but when its going to happen. I have six kids myself and there is not a chance they would be on any electric bikes or anything like that. It is alright getting your child an electric bike for Christmas or a birthday but if they get killed on it, it is you that has to live with it for the rest of your life.”
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