I think this is good advice in most any thread on HN. I have lost count of the number of "In Europe it is this way" posts that have immediate replies saying "umm, not in all of Europe" from some other European.
There is a fair amount of difference even between various states in the US, and I imagine that the difference between European states is much more significant. Difficult to generalize.
"Seven countries require children to be 14 years (Estonia, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland and Portugal)"
and this is only EU members, other non-members such as Switzerland also have 14yo minimum age for mopeds.
In addition,
"Ten Member States allow children aged 15 years to acquire a driving license for a moped (Austria, Czechia, Germany, Spain, Finland, Croatia, Lithuania, Sweden, Slovenia and Slovakia)."
which is just one year older, so I would say it's a very similar situation.
Adding on to this, it shouldn't be very shocking even for Americans. Half the US states consider scooters to just be electric bikes, and have no restrictions beyond speed limits, and helmet laws.
It's a shame scooters are illegal in NYC, it seems like it would be a great place for it.
There is a fair amount of difference even between various states in the US, and I imagine that the difference between European states is much more significant. Difficult to generalize.