The Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced a felony child endangerment and abuse charge this week for a father whose 12-year-old son was seriously injured on a modified electric motorcycle. The charges stem from a crash last year when, the DA’s office said, the child ran a red light and collided with a car, leading to a slew of major injuries, including a broken femur and fractured skull.
During the investigation of the crash, it was determined that the child had been using a Talaria XXX e-moto, or electronic motorcycle, that had been modified by the father, the DA’s office said. The bike’s governor, which is installed to specifically limit the vehicle’s top speed, had been cut, and the pedals on the bike had been swapped out. Per the DA’s office, the modified e-motorcycle was capable of reaching speeds of 60 mph.
“There is absolutely no reason that an unlicensed, untrained child with no concept of the rules of the road should be riding a motorcycle that can go up to 60 miles per hour next to cars on a public street and think that by some miracle they are going to be safe,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a news release announcing the charges. “This 12-year-old boy is lucky to be alive and the driver who hit him will have to live with that horror of seriously injuring a child through no fault of his own.”…