Parents have been warned they could face huge fines if they do not watch what their children are putting on their auxiliary cycles.

Police issued the warning as they announced a crackdown on the growing problem of teenagers riding auxiliary cycles with oversized parts.

Speaking at a press conference, the head of the Vehicle Crime Unit, Detective Sergeant Terence Maxwell, said teenagers increase the engine size on their bikes to achieve greater speed.

?Police are very concerned that these bikes are seriously overpowered for the skill level of the children riding them,? he said. ?We are going through a huge amount of fatalities again this year and, without a doubt, virtually all of those fatalities are as a result of speed.?

Sgt. Maxwell said auxiliary cycles with a standard lawful engine size of 49cc are often upgraded to 80 plus cc.

?It is not against the law to purchase an oversized engine,? he said. ?The law is broken only when the oversized engine is affixed to a smaller engine sized cycle without informing the Transport Control Department and the insurance company of the engine size change,? he explained.

He said there are a number of offences associated with altering an engine size.

?A person can expect to go to court and pay anywhere between $2,500 and $2,800 in fines for having oversized engine parts and parents who register their children?s cycles in their names for cheaper insurance purposes will be booked for the same offence, and will have to pay the same sort of fines,? Sgt. Maxwell said. ?One household could pay anywhere up to $5,000 in fines.?

The Acting Road Safety Officer David Morris said parents should encourage their children to ride defensively on Bermuda?s roads. ?Parents ? as the primary source for registration and insurance policy holders of these vehicles, should know if their son or daughter has altered their bike in any way.?

He added: ?Last week we lost the tenth life on our roads. We must work against this trend. Not one more mother or father needs to experience that pain.?