‘It’s a motorcycle’: Spike backs charging parents over kids’ illegal e-motorcycle riding

KIRO host Spike O’Neill supports holding parents criminally accountable when they enable their children to ride electric motorcycles illegally. He argued families need to understand the dangers before buying one on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

Discussing California’s crackdown with KIRO fill-in host Angela Poe Russell, Spike warned that parents may mistake a powerful electric motorcycle for an ordinary bicycle.

“It’s a motorcycle,” Spike said.

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer has charged 12 parents this year for allegedly allowing their children to ride e-motos illegally, according to CBS News. The cases include the parents of 13-year-old Benson Nguyen, who died after a crash in Garden Grove, CBS News reported.

Spike argues parental accountability is overdue

Angela asked whether charging parents sends the right message — and whether Washington should consider a similar approach.

“I think absolutely,” Spike said.

He argued that accountability should extend beyond the child riding the vehicle to adults who provide it or allow dangerous behavior.

“With regard to parents being accountable for their kids, I think it’s a long overdue evolution of how we treat juvenile crime, if not juvenile behavior,” Spike said.

Spike emphasized that parents may not fully understand the speed and power of what they are buying. He also distinguished pedal-assisted bicycles from higher-powered, throttle-driven vehicles, though the discussion sometimes used “e-bike” and “e-moto” interchangeably.

The California cases concern illegal electric motorcycle riding, not simply children using any electric bicycle.

For Spike, the risk extends beyond the rider to pedestrians and other people sharing streets and sidewalks.

A fatal crash behind the crackdown

Among those charged are Nguyen’s mother and father, according to CBS News. Police reported that the teenager was riding recklessly at more than 40 mph in May when he lost control and struck a light pole. He later died from his injuries.

In a CBS News recording played during the discussion, Spitzer explained his reasoning.

“I need to send a message in order to save other kids’ lives, and to make sure other parents are taking responsibility for their children,” Spitzer said.

The charges are allegations, not findings of guilt.

Angela distinguishes enabling danger from a child acting secretly

Angela supported parental accountability but argued that the circumstances matter.

She distinguished a parent buying and providing a dangerous item from a child secretly obtaining one despite a parent’s efforts to prevent it.

“For me that’s a little different than if the child sneaked and had to go through a lot of work to get it,” Angela said.

Spike agreed. The hosts compared the principle with parental responsibility when children gain access to firearms, focusing on adults’ decisions to provide access and whether they take reasonable safety precautions.

Angela acknowledged that no parent can prevent every bad decision a child makes. But she argued parents should make dangerous behavior harder rather than supply the means for it.

“And look, I’m an imperfect parent,” Angela said. “To be clear, I am not a perfect parent.”

Safety responsibilities come with the purchase

Spike argued that families should approach powerful electric vehicles with the same seriousness they bring to other potentially dangerous equipment: understanding what they are buying, teaching safe use and recognizing the risks to others.

Angela also welcomed citations for young riders who break the rules, while supporting consequences for parents whose own decisions contribute to the danger.

Their shared position was not that parents should automatically face charges whenever a child misbehaves. It was that providing a powerful vehicle carries responsibilities — and ignoring those responsibilities can put both children and the public at risk.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The John Curley Show” weekdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM.