Kids find independence from their parents without the costs of driving, though safety risks remain
Teens are taking to suburban streets across the U.S. while skipping a classic rite of passage: driving a car.
Instead, their families are spending as much as $3,000 on electric bicycles, the battery-powered vehicles that offer the convenience of traditional bikes without the sweat or strain that comes with unassisted pedaling.
It’s the former. In many cities cars are required to have a badge in their windshield signifying / signaling (?) how polluting (is that a word?) their car is. From red (really old and bad) to green. This applies to both gasoline and diesel cars and e.g. really dirty diesel cars (euro 1 and 2 norm) are completely forbidden (red badge).
Then additionally some cities have streets banning diesel cars completly or requiring some very strict exhaust norm (euro 6? Euro 7; I don’t know).
How is this enforced. E.g. by checking parking cars for their badge or by selectively stopping cars (and be it for other violations, yes). There obviously are some fines. That’s it I think and it mostly works (I guess, not living in a city myself).
Ah, I see. So those old diesel vehicles are essentially wearing a scarlet letter haha