Police across the Hunter are continuing to see young people riding unregistered dirt bikes on the region's roads - in some cases trying to "goad" officers to chase them, a senior Hunter highway patrol officer says.
Inspector Mick Buko told the Newcastle Herald that most of the offenders recently were teenagers - though some have been as young as 12, while others were in their 20s.
He said there had been several instances where young riders had tried to get the attention of police to "goad" them into a chase, but officers would not pursue dangerously - they would instead use other means like drone technology to follow them so police could catch up with them safely at a later time.
"We keep taking the trail bikes and [more] keep reappearing," Inspector Buko said.
"They're unregistered. We have the power to seize them and if we detect people riding them we'll go knock on the door and take the bikes."
Inspector Buko said problem spots have been widespread in recent weeks and have included the Wallsend, West Wallsend, Kurri Kurri, Cessnock, Charlestown, Warners Bay and Windale areas.
"There are places where kids can ride these bikes - like bike clubs - off the road," he said.
"But riding from your home along a road to somewhere in the bushes to ride your bike - you could kill yourself or kill someone else.
"There's a lot of unregistered trail bikes around at the moment and they're cheap - but they're not roadworthy, most of them. That's the problem."
