Submitted by Aggravating_Age4915 t3_11lldv4 in LowellMA
Has anyone send these massive bike groups causing a ruckus around downtown and highlands? They block up roads and are extremely rude. They wheely up and down the streets especially this one kid who switches between a pink, blue, and white bike, to an all black glittery bike. They are rambunctious and most of them are a disturbance. Is there any way to avoid them?
Welcome to living in a city.
I personally don’t know if it is the same but I used to live in Dracut and there are a handful of kids who do that there. I wonder if it is the same group.
I bike myself but am absolutely terrified of getting hit. Just a month or so ago my wheel got caught in some trolly tracks and I fell off and apparently broke my elbow. If simply falling hurts that much then I am not taking my chances with 2 ton killing machines.
honestly the lowell kids don’t operate in dracut except for the area around ULowell and the old elementary school. prob a different gang or bored children
Taking risks is typical adolescent behavior. We've all done something. It's part of normal human development. The trick is to give kids an opportunity to do inherently risky things with guidance about how to manage the risks. In suburbia that might be something like indoor rock climbing, or racing go karts on a track. In the city, kids ride bikes in traffic for want of structured opportunities to test themselves.
Expect kids playing in traffic. Expect aggressive and incompetent driving. Expect jaywalking. Be careful and remember that you were once a dumb reckless kid.
If you really want to do something. Support after school and summer programming for kids. We have a lot of youngsters in Lowell.
They're kids having fun riding bikes, but maybe you've seen worse behavior from them than I have
OP sounds like an angry grandpa "those damn kids, riding their bicycles while playing their wrap and hippity-hop music and not saying hello as they pass, why back in my day...".
To anyone who recently moved into a luxury loft in a mill, here's a friendly reminder, Lowell hasn't always been a UMASS campus, for a long time it was more or less defined by it's post-industrial recession, and still is in a lot of areas.
This is a city that still has a huge poverty problem and thus a huge crime problem despite how nice the downtown area looks now.
I’m honestly more tired of all the commuters from the wrong-side-of-the-river suburbs barreling through residential streets and beeping their horns at kids who live there, taking out their misery on anyone slowing them down.
Downtown does not look nice. It's okay. City leaders should look at what Salem has done with their downtown and we need to bring in more commercial businesses so property taxes won't be so high.
I’ve seen them swerve multiple cars and in some cases nearly hit them
Yup - riding down Aiken Ave last night. Almost hit two of them.
Yup. We should lower the speed limit so that bad drivers are less likely to hurt them.
I used to think one of them will die and then it will be over. But nope. I think one of those kids (and honestly I think some of them are more like young adults) got hit last year. I think I saw less of the motorcycles, but I'm hearing them again. I saw a group of those guys kinda congregated in Back Central in a driveway near the old Whipple Cafe. I think most of the time these guys are just enjoying the freedom. But like usually what happens is one guy feels like showing off and the other guys do the same. That's when things get dangerous as they try to one-up each other. I've seen some close calls. I hope they grow out of it before someone else gets hurt. I saw them drive around someone crossing the street in a stroller (of course, it's Lowell so the stroller may have contained a six pack and a tent for all we know haha) once. Could have been a Mentos commercial.
Yeah, I mean you could try minding your own business. Works for me.
Just moved here, huh?
Motorcross bikes aren't allowed on the road. same as quads and snow mobiles.
Pretty sure they're complaining about BMX bikes (pedals, no motors).
Ayyyy we lit LBL
Excuse me??
That’s how you can tell that spring is almost here. But seriously, it freaks me out because they’re often younger kids weaving in and out of traffic
Get a dashcam is all I can say. I've seen little shots around here just rip onto the road expecting everyone can stop on a dime from them.
Better yet, why isn’t the police doing something about them?
What do you think should be done?
Arrest them, impound the bikes, suspend their licenses, any of those sound good to me, but open to other ideas.
What do you think should be done?
turn one of the parks into a skate/bike park
We have skate parks. I think what we need is a few linear parkways.
You think arresting kids for riding bikes is good for our community?
Drive with caution, if there is a kid (out of all the kids in the city…) who is swerving close to cars you should report it to the cops or better yet if you can connect with the kid when they are stopped somewhere you should.
Be nice, Don’t lecture them you aren’t in charge and not an authority for the city, say your perspective and go about your life.
Bicycles share the road with drivers and have rights to use the street.
Kids out riding bikes is a good thing not an issue to be corrected.
Kids acting up should be corrected without arrests, processing, threatening them.
You should focus on adding to the city to make it “better” vs policing children playing, IMO.
These aren’t innocent children riding bicycles minding their own business, they are thugs riding bikes dirt bikes, interfering with traffic, and creating dangerous and unpleasant situations. This is a problem that needs to be dealt with, not accepted or rebranded as some form of innocent play.
Motorcycles are different than kids on bikes. It sounded like you were talking about bicycles.
For that Ya, call the cops, give the plate, share your video. That’s an easy ticket for the cops.
Drive defensively
Edit: I’ve reread the post, everything indicates we are talking about kids on bicycles
“thugs” oh ok, i can read between the lines. cut your NIMBY shit and invest in public spaces for children maybe?
What a horrible idea.
You think that kids should have criminal records for being "unpleasant"?
Over-policing is not the solution to any of Lowell's problems. I'm sure you're not showing up to city hall meetings and advocating for public parks or bike lanes, and even if you are, the streets don't belong to you.
If you grew up an an area where you had access to large, safe, public spaces for kids, I'm happy for you, but unless you are addressing that problem in Lowell, kids are going to be biking in the street.
Also, not very slick with your "thugs" comment. Take your bullshit to another city.
We obviously don’t see eye to eye on this.
I’d rather see kids be taught discipline at a young age than have them run amok. I’m not suggesting over policing, simply policing, have the police actually do their job. I’ve seen these bikers run through the city unchecked for too long, it’s time for the city to address the issue.
I’m tired of all the sympathizers for criminals and homeless. It’s that kind of attitude that’s allowed homelessness to become a nationwide issue. Everyone wants to be nice, no one wants to be the bad guy.
I moved here two years ago, hoping the place would get cleaned up, but it’s not much better than when I moved here so I’m out, best of luck.
I’ll continue to own property here, but don’t see myself living here until things improve significantly.
We definitely don't see eye to eye.
Nobody said anything about discipline. Kids are going to bike in the street and act like kids, you are taking a non-issue and deciding that it should be solved by police, who are historically not great at dealing with these kinds of problems. That WILL do more harm than good. Those kids do not need the police.
I'm going to assume that you don't go to city hall meetings or advocate for parks because you didn't answer my question, and I'll also assume you do the same amount (meaning nothing) to help the homeless find care and housing. If you think that sympathizing with homelessness or crime is causing it to become an issue you should educate yourself. Go to Lowell Community Health Center or to Lowell Transitional Shelter and talk to them about homelessness and what you can do to help and ask them what they need. They will tell you.
It doesn't sound like you do much but complain, so why would you assume this city would get better?
Nobody wants you to own property here if this is how you feel about the people that call the city home.
The idea that having basic human decency makes and encourages people to be homeless... Way to be a classist prick. You're one house fire away from being homeless yourself, and I hope if that ever happens people will have more sympathy and empathy than you do.
Taking care of that problem does not make them any money.
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Sbatio t1_jbf22r5 wrote
There are kids who go over by Shedd’s Field house and ride around 38. They are always popping wheelies, pretty impressively IMO.
What can be done?….watch out for bicyclists in the road, remember they have a right to be there, and let’s all get home safely.