Four year old boy drives Mom's car

MrBishop

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
Boy, 4, drives mom's car to video store and back



February 7, 2005, 8:50 AM



SAND LAKE, Mich. (AP) -- At least he wasn't speeding.

A 4-year-old boy drove his mother's car to a video store a quarter-mile from their apartment in this town about 15 miles north of Grand Rapids.

Unable to reach the accelerator, the boy managed to put the car in gear and make his way to the store about 1:30 a.m. EST Friday, Sand Lake police said. Finding the store closed, the youngster began a slow trip home.

Weaving and with its headlights off, the car got the attention of Sgt. Jay Osga, who first thought he was following a car that had been left running at a gas pump. He flipped on his lights when the car turned into the apartment complex and struck a parked car. The boy put the car in reverse and struck Osga's cruiser.

"He knew how to go from forward to reverse," Osga said Monday. "The mother said she taught him how to drive by letting him sit on her lap and steer."

Osga then discovered the boy inside. The boy had started the car and backed out of a parking spot, apparently hitting one parked car, Osga said. He then turned down the street and headed to the video store. The mother's car also was damaged.

"He's 4 years old. His mom didn't even know he was up," Sand Lake Police Chief Doug Heugel told The Grand Rapids Press. "I don't think he even realizes what he did."

No charges will be filed against the boy or his mother, Heugel said.

Although the boy was unable to reach the accelerator, the car moved once it was put in gear because of power from the idling engine, Osga said.

It was the third time in six weeks that a west Michigan child was caught driving a vehicle.

A 7-year-old girl sustained minor injuries Dec. 23 after she took a van for a drive and collided with a car near her home in Ottawa County's Robinson Township. The other driver wasn't injured. On Jan. 13, an 11-year-old Norton Shores boy took a school bus on a two-mile joyride that left smashed mailboxes and broken utility poles in its wake. There were no reported injuries.
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I sometimes let 2.0 steer, just down our street, but my keys live on top of the 'frig. This is one reason why.
 
How old's your kid?

I'm itching for late spring and summer. My kid got a battery-powered 4X4 for Christmas. So far, he's ridden it around in the garage...but circles get boring after a while.

I'll have to set him up in the school parking lot soon.

But first...gotta build it a garage out back. :D
 
I've let my kids sit on my lap and steer. They would never take the vehicle for a ride, though. Wow... imagine, at 4??? I wonder if that kid does a lot of his own up bringing to be displaying that kind of independence.
 
MrBishop said:
How old's your kid?
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Not quite 4. See, I'd never let him have a 4X4 like yours has. It's really all about the kid and the street environment. Mine has no fear and would steer that 4X4 out into traffic, but tries to do it right when he's sitting in my lap.
 
Mummy was probably sound asleep. I sleep lightly, so if one of my kids hiccup, I wake up. My ex could sleep through a tornado!
 
HomeLAN said:
Not quite 4. See, I'd never let him have a 4X4 like yours has. It's really all about the kid and the street environment. Mine has no fear and would steer that 4X4 out into traffic, but tries to do it right when he's sitting in my lap.
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Unfortunatly, I didn't buy it for him...that was his Uncle's doing. The lot's pretty big and with only two exits, it'd be easy to keep him on track. Mind you, he's only 2 1/2... so he might end up getting more hurt falling out of the 4X4 than by actually driving it into anything. :D

You don't feel as if placing your son between you and the steering wheel as mildy dangerous? If you hit anything...he'd become a sandwich mighty quick, non?
 
Tough to do much damage running down my street at under 5 MPH, with my foot hovering over the brake and my hands about 3 inches off the wheel.
 
HomeLAN said:
Tough to do much damage running down my street at under 5 MPH, with my foot hovering over the brake and my hands about 3 inches off the wheel.
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I'm 24... I think the whole sitting on Dad's knee would be a problem! :p
 
Spirit said:
I've let my kids sit on my lap and steer. They would never take the vehicle for a ride, though. Wow... imagine, at 4??? I wonder if that kid does a lot of his own up bringing to be displaying that kind of independence.
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I am wondering the same thing. My daughter knows that something like that would be wrong so she wouldn't even consider it.

My keys used to live ontop of the fridge, until I knocked them off and down the back. Whoops. Now they live in my purse or on the key rack.
 
This, my friends, is yet another reason why I think I will always drive cars with manual transmissions.
 
Damnnnnnn..... 4 yr. old did that.....SCARY THOUGHT..... youngest is 4....BUT, I don't think he could do that. Imagine the officers face through all this? LOL
Never let the kids sit on my lap driving the car. :devious:
 
damn homeLAN...lets just make sure ted doesn't tell marlowe that he gets to drive. rob told marlowe that she could have the lexus when she turned 16 and became a big girl and that's one of the only things she'll talk about.
 
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