At around 2am on March 7, a 15-year-old boy lost control of his motorcycle and hit a tree. Both the teenager and his pillion rider, his three-year-old brother, were thrown off. They were admitted to hospital where the child succumbed to his injuries. The teenager, meanwhile, is being treated in the intensive care unit.

Neither boy was wearing a helmet. The teenager did not have a driving licence.

Why was he riding a motorbike in the early hours of the morning? It’s bad enough that he broke the law by riding one without a valid licence; now, as he has found to his cost, he is responsible for the death of his brother.

Youth must understand that rules governing the road are there for a reason: to protect them as well as other road users. More importantly, what happened to parental responsibility? Did the parents not realise that their children were not safely in bed but were out roaming the roads, endangering themselves as well as other road users? Or did the boys sneak out while their parents were asleep?

Whose motorbike was it? If it was not his, did the parents fail to teach their son the need for road rules, and that he cannot just take a motorcycle without permission from the owner?

Just over two years ago, there was another road accident involving a group of young boys in Johor Bahru. Boys, ranging from 13 to 17, were racing modified bicycles on the main roads when tragedy struck and eight of them died.

Some claimed that this incident was racially motivated, but it was nothing of the sort. It was just a bunch of careless and irresponsible youngsters who had no regard for the law.

Have you ever experienced, while driving on the road, a motorbike or bicycle looming suddenly out of the darkness? If the rider does not have his or her lights on, you only realise they’re there because of your car headlights. It does not help when they wear dark clothing and are not easily visible to other road users.

If you are driving and suddenly find yourself surrounded by Mat Rempits, or even just one weaving in and out of traffic, what do you do? The best thing is to get away, if possible. There is no point provoking them.

Most of these Mat Rempits are young. Some are allegedly on drugs, and many are just bored youngsters who have never been disciplined in their lives. They do not know the Highway Code. They disobey their parents. They are out for a thrill.

But that 15-year-old now knows he will have to live with his brother’s death for the rest of his life.

Children need to have limits. They need to be taught discipline. Parents are responsible for bringing up their children to obey the law, to have a sense of right and wrong, and to be productive Malaysians.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.