12 o'clock boys of Maryland... interesting parallel to mods

neotrotsky · Post by **neotrotsky** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 10:56 pm

Really interesting trailer about illegal dirtbike gangs in Baltimore, where it seems police policy from 1999 prohibits high-speed pursuit of motorbikes illegally on the road due to a death from one such event.

At first I just brushed it off as another one of those "thug culture" glorification vids. But, if you actually watch it, it's quite amazing the direct parallels that exist to English youth in the 60's. Substitute London and and Slough for Baltimore and Vespas for Dirtbikes, and you can see exactly why this subculture exists. I'm frankly not surprised exactly how this came about in the city since it seems to be a common cultural development for any urban center that falls on hard economic times and violent crime is heavy and it's citizens are left idle and disillusioned.

Warning: The comments below the video are heavy with racist overtones. But, that's YouTube for you.

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nickcornaglia · Post by **nickcornaglia** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 11:25 pm

There seems to be more and more of this in Philadelphia as well. I saw a news article that said the police don't even try to catch them...because they can't.

Growing up in Philadelphia, there were always kids who had dirt bikes and mini bikes. But never in such great numbers as these guys. The part that offends me is the way they are tearing up the grass in parks and common areas. Crazy that that is allowed.

There's having fun and bending the law a bit...and then there is breaking the law without regard for anyone or anything but yourself and your stupid sub-culture at the expense of other's property and safety.

I soooo dislike ghetto culture....even when its in the suburbs.

nickcornaglia · Post by **nickcornaglia** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 11:26 pm

Also...you could post a video about butterflies and candy canes and the comments on YouTube would have racist and hate-filled overtones.

velobuff · Post by **velobuff** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 2:03 am

Lack of parenting is a horrible thing.

neotrotsky · Post by **neotrotsky** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 2:23 am

It's easy to go around claiming to be culturally superior and blame "welfare" or bad parenting. But my point is that what's the difference between that behavior and this?

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I simply found it an interesting parallel. I would hardly call US scooter culture anything in the same category (frankly most scooter riders are afraid of their own shadow to be honest). But, I found it quite interesting

Stormswift · Post by **Stormswift** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 3:07 am

If I recall correctly police are not allowed to chase anyone on 2 wheels. Problem with these dirtbike gangs is that they harrass motorists. One of the "kiddies" ran stolen dirtbike into some unfortunate guy's car, totaled the bike then he and his friends dragged the driver our of the car and beat him up. If one of the little darlings gets killed running from cops on stolen bike we will never hear the end of it. That is why Baltimore finest are not allowed to chase after riders. Inflammatory retorics is not going to fix lack of direction and parenting though and these kids are danger to themselves and to others. The only way this will ever get solved is when police starts assuming that all riders are over 18 or whatever our Maryland legal driving age is and go after riders. Once it becomes an oops situation as in "your dead kid was under age and you allowed him to have a bike that is not even street legal? Oh, you did not get him that 3 G bike that he kept in an alley where your trash can is that you use very day? Not good parenting mam. We will definately call CPS so that they can make sure your remaining kids are getting parenting they need." That kind of approach gets results and stops lawsuits dead in its tracks.