INDIANAPOLIS -
Two 13-year-old boys are recovering from serious injuries after a moped crash over the weekend. They shouldn't have been on the road at all, and that is leading to a push for stricter laws to make sure more young people don't make the same mistake.
Gabe Gilliam might have several broken bones, but he remembers the moped accident that put him and his friend in the hospital.
"We both had helmets on and they were strapped up, but when the car hit us, it knocked my helmet off and Jake's helmet, I think, came off too," said Gabe.
A near head-on collision at the Greenwood intersection of Runyon Road and Driftwood Lane threw Gabe over a stopped car waiting to turn. His buddy Jake was trapped under the SUV that hit them, and was dragged several feet.
Witnesses said the 13-year-olds ignored a stop sign.
"As soon as I got that phone call, the first thing I thought was, ‘Why did I let him go' because I shouldn't have let him go," said Gabe's mom Melinda.
Just down the street, at Methodist Hospital, Dana Dodson said she had only left her son Jake's side once in two days.
"It's been a very tough 48 hours," said Dana.
Jake Dodson didn't want to talk about the accident or his broken right leg and broken left ankle.
"He doesn't even remember being on the moped," said Dana Dodson.
Jake's mother said the moped was a birthday gift.
"Probably eight-to-ten people in our neighborhood alone got them this summer," Dana explained of the popularity of mopeds.
But according to Indiana Law, Jake and Gabe weren't even supposed to be on the moped in the first place. The law requires you be at least 15 to operate a moped. But there are loopholes in the law one state representative wants to close up.
"They go fast enough that people are getting hurt and losing their lives," said Republican State Representative Milo Smith.
Smith plans to propose a stricter law requiring training and a test from the BMV, and said mopeds should have license plates, and drivers need insurance. "Maybe we should consider making parents license them," he added.
Gabe Gilliam won't have to worry about that. His parents won't be allowing him on a moped until he's at least 15.
"It's a mistake. He's not ready. They're not ready at this age," said Melinda Gilliam.
Jake Dodson's mother said she had the same concerns.
"It will be long time before he gets another one," said Dana Dodson.
Milo Smith
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