There are so many times when children die from circumstances out of our control like incurable disease and freak accidents that no one saw coming. So I think that's what makes deaths that could have been prevented so incredibly tragic. Like the case in Utah this past Sunday in which toddler Richard Moore was killed while riding on his father's motorcycle.
I'm sure Shannon Moore, 48, had only the best of intentions when he took his 1-year-old son out for a ride on his motorcycle. I'm sure he was looking to do some fatherly bonding and figured they'd be fine since they were just riding around their apartment complex parking lot. But they weren't.
According to ABC, the boy was riding between his father and the handlebars; neither was wearing a helmet. They were going more than 10 miles an hour and took a corner too sharply, when Shannon lost control of the vehicle. The boy was thrown from the motorcycle, hit the pavement, and the motorcycle landed on top of him. He died at the scene.
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Neighbors said it wasn't the first time they'd seen the father and son on the motorcycle, but tragically this will be the last. While there is no law that prohibited what they were doing, there should be. Police Department Detective Levi Hughes told the station:
Even though laws don’t regulate the age of the passenger of a motorcycle, common sense has to dictate that kind of decision. If the passenger’s feet can’t reach the pegs and he can’t wear a helmet, he shouldn’t be put on a motorcycle. If you don’t listen to your own better judgment you will pay the ultimate price.
The fact is there aren't always rules and regulations telling us what to do with our children, but there are some things we should just know as parents not to do. Of course, while the father may or may not deserve the criminal charges he possibly faces, I'm sure he'll punish himself more than the law ever could, and there's nothing he can do to change what happened. At this point the best we can hope for is that his story serves as a warning to others, and perhaps prevents a similar, senseless tragedy from taking another innocent life.
Would you ever let your children ride on a motorcycle? What other senseless risks do you see people take with their children's lives?
Image via Elvert Barnes/Flickr
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Comments 103
for those of you saying it was an accident and the father has suffered enough ,i dont think he has,parents do not put your kids into situations like this and you will not have anything to regret,its just stupid parenting and you should pay if you choose to put them at risk
I'm sorry....children should NOT be on motorcyles or other heavy machinery. It's not safe. I don't care if they are wearing helmets. It's stupid and irresponsible. As the article above says, it's common sense not to bring a toddler on a motorcycle.
with ya Rhonda..
So sad for this family!
momgirlsx2-- about a month or so ago there was an article on the Stir about a dad who caught a foul ball at a professional baseball game with one hand while holding his infant with his other hand. I made a comment at the time that I thought it was stupid and reckless. Pretty much everyone else who commented (including the wife/mom of the dad in question) told me that *I* was pretty much stupid for saying so.. I'm so sorry about what happened to your daughter and its lasting effects. With regards to THIS story--riding on the handle bars of my dad's motorcycle when we were REALLY little was something we did ALL the time--this was the 70's and no, we didn't wear helmets and no, he didn't go under 10mph. I thought of it as such a fun memory but man, that was STUPID. Thoughts go out to this poor family in their time of loss. Heartbreaking.