Kids on "sports" mopeds

I'm worried and I'm concerned that it's little more than a sign of my age. Yes, I watched and enjoyed "Grumpy Old Men" and yes, I agreed with most of what they complained about. Nonetheless, I feel the need to voice my concerns in an altogether selfless fashion.

Kids on mopeds, that's my chief concern here. They propel these idiotic-sounding things about with the reckless abandon and fearlessness of youth, seemingly without any requirement to first undergo any road sense training, like I had to. In fact, I'd done a cycling proficiency test at Junior school, and I bet nobody does that anymore before unleashing themselves and their new BMX onto our busy streets. Only much later, and after I'd done a course with the BMF in the safety of the grounds of West Kent College in Brook Street, did I graduate from pedals to engine power.

There's a lot more to being on the road than just being able to manoeuvre the machine. There's signalling, observation, anticipation and positioning (or S.O.A.P., to be acronymous); in short, considering other road users (including pedestrians) and allowing for the unexpected. It's not just thinking about your own actions but those of all the strangers around you too; it's keeping them and you all alive, or at least out of A&E.

I don't know who, if anyone, is instructing these kids but I fear for their safety, not just now but in the future when they are in charge of faster and more powerful machines...