New to Liverpool I am stunned by the obsession with cars in youth culture, can anyone explain joy riding?
I have just moved to Liverpool, and, dont get me wrong, I quite like it.
One observation is the obsession of kids, mostly boys it seems with anything that has wheels, an exhaust, and is loud.
They drive their lawn mower bikes, motorbikes, mopeds... you name it, everywhere, anytime. Preferably in open spaces, the parks are favorites. Just came through Sefton Park... cars parked on the lawn... inside the park, next to it middle aged men angling in a duck pond. Amazing.
Then Princes park, kids on motorbike racing between 4 year olds... and the remains of a burnt out car at the entrance. A friend saw i still smouldering the day before. Joyriders had ploughed up the park in the night before.
Cant these kids be given any alternatives?
One observation is the obsession of kids, mostly boys it seems with anything that has wheels, an exhaust, and is loud.
They drive their lawn mower bikes, motorbikes, mopeds... you name it, everywhere, anytime. Preferably in open spaces, the parks are favorites. Just came through Sefton Park... cars parked on the lawn... inside the park, next to it middle aged men angling in a duck pond. Amazing.
Then Princes park, kids on motorbike racing between 4 year olds... and the remains of a burnt out car at the entrance. A friend saw i still smouldering the day before. Joyriders had ploughed up the park in the night before.
Cant these kids be given any alternatives?
Comments
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Car are Fun
23.04.2004 16:02
Shrill
Culture
28.04.2004 22:41
It could almost be sponsored by the various car companies, and the images that are seen by the kids are of cars that can pretty much do anything, roll over and then carry on driving. No one is saying they accept this as reality, but this is marketing.
Car manufacturers employ people. The parts industry is huge. The government gets paid tax from manufacturing, maintenance and fuel. There really is no (financial) incentive for them to get car companies to switch to cleaner, greener transport. How can you persuade car companies, reliant on their parts industry, to switch to electic or hybrid vehicles with less wear and tear on parts?
But no one can sell the idea of petrol driven vehicles in traffic jams, with drivers and passengers absorbing concentrated amounts of pollutants in their steel boxes. Instead the marketing at the young concentrates on speed and image, while the adult adverts try to make us laugh or sell a concept of freedom that doesn't exist on Britain's roads.
Our local kids' antics are not unique, but a symptom of a much bigger disease which is our continued obsession with the motor vehicle. One small step would be to actually make sure we get a tram system (with road priority) developed as soon as possible in Liverpool but right now the council seems to be screwing this right up.
Peter
e-mail:
greenliverpool@hotmail.com
Homepage:
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