The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is taking new enforcement steps in an ongoing effort to get illegal minibikes off Nebraska roads: citing parents and impounding bikes.
Deputies with the Sheriff’s Community Action Team recently stopped a 14-year-old riding an electric motorcycle near 156th and State streets in Omaha after receiving several complaints.
The teen was seen riding and attempting to stand on the seat. Deputies cited the child’s parent and impounded the motorcycle.
“It’s not only illegal for youth to drive these, or anybody to drive these on the roadway, it’s actually against state law. It’s a crime for parents to permit or to allow their kids to drive these on public roadways,” Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson said in a video.
The Sheriff’s Office said in a recent Facebook post that the bikes are illegal on main roads, side roads, neighborhood streets and sidewalks, and that cost is not a defense.
“The excuse of how much money you spent on it doesn’t negate the child’s lack of riding skills and ability to negotiate traffic,” the post read.
The enforcement action comes as complaints about minibikes have surged across Nebraska.
In Lincoln, complaints about minibikes and motorbikes tripled between April and May compared to the same period last year.
First responders in Omaha responded to three children who were injured falling from or colliding with other vehicles in April.
“Not only will sheriff’s deputies be impounding these vehicles moving forward,” Hanson said. “But we will be criminally citing the parents who allow their children to operate these vehicles on public roadways.”