When kids go driving
Here’s a news story that caught my eye: You hear a lot about kids who get caught driving well before they’re of the legal age, but what about a six year old? A young boy, whose name has not been released, decided that he was feeling hungry and wanted to go eat at Applebee’s. So what did he do? He decided he’d drive there himself. It sounds as though he was staying with his grandmother and she had her back turned for whatever reason. So he took the keys, went out to the car, removed his booster seat from from the backseat and put it up in the drivers seat, climbed in, and went. Of course, the little fella didn’t get very far. He only made it about 75 feet before hitting a transformer and communications box, knocking out power and phones to the entire neighborhood. Did I mention he was unable to get the vehicle out of reverse? Of course, I’m impressed that he was able to get it into reverse to begin with. What I’d really like to know, however, is how he managed to reach the gas pedal. Police investigators are also unclear, apparently, on how he accomplished that as well so I’m not the only one.
This had to be pretty scary for the poor little guy. The news story said he got out of the vehicle promptly and went to tell his grandmother what had happened. At least he didn’t try to hide what he’d done, as if that would be possible (but you know kids). I wonder if she ended up taking him to Applebee’s after all. Sounds as if the kid has a real preference for that restaurant. The good news is that there are no charges filed on this incident so save for a dented fender and some time without power for the neighbors, no one is the worse for the wear. Let’s hope the child learned his lesson, however, and doesn’t try driving again until he’s quite a bit older.
