Our 14 year old wants to ride the colony scooty with her friends. Inside the gates only, she says

indigo_pigeon_704315 Jun 2026

Three of her friends ride a parent's scooty around the inner roads of our colony in the evenings. No licence, obviously, and never on the main road. She wants to learn and says we're the only parents saying no. My partner is a firm no. I'm mostly no, but I'm aware that 'inside the gates' is the same road where delivery bikes go through at full speed. I'm also aware she'll be allowed in a few years anyway and might be better off having learnt slowly with us. Where did you land on this?

3 comments

olive_chai_713715 Jun 2026
No from me, and not because I'm strict. I see enough teenagers in clinic after falls on colony roads to know the inside roads are not safer; people just ride them more carelessly. When she's old enough for a licence she can learn properly. Until then, a cycle.
cinnamon_lantern_776115 Jun 2026
We had this exact negotiation with our older son. What we agreed: no riding anywhere until a learner's licence, but he could go with my partner on Sunday mornings to an empty ground and learn the controls. It took the urgency out of it. He wasn't missing out, he was 'learning properly'. He was nearly 16 before he rode on any road at all ♥
- sage_paper_49615 Jun 2026
  the empty ground idea is good. the hard part is finding an empty ground in this city
- fig_spoon_27015 Jun 2026
  Also worth checking whether the three friends' parents actually know. In our colony two of the 'my parents allow it' kids turned out to be riding while the parents were at work.
- indigo_pigeon_704316 Jun 2026
  Replying to @fig_spoon_270
  Ha, that hadn't occurred to me. Mentioned it to one of the mothers at the gate today and she went very quiet. I think we've accidentally started something.
plum_wave_761915 Jun 2026
Here in Ahmedabad half the 14 year olds in our society ride scooters inside the compound, and a few outside it. I never allowed my daughter, and now she is 17 and too busy with NEET to care. My son is 12 and has started asking. We move to Hyderabad next April and I was hoping the question would stay behind in Gujarat.