Posted on 11/23/2015 4:09:50 PM PST by DoodleDawg
The grandfather was an idiot for taking her out on the highway, but country roads that aren’t used a lot are fine, imo.
I let my kids sit on my lap and steer my truck. They can’t reach the pedals yet heh.
This story is absurd though.
I don’t know if the guilty grandpa was her father or FIL, but many would have been calling her a parent for not letting the girl spend time with her grandpa.
We don’t know how characteristic of gramps this move was.
I hope this isn’t the same 8 year old who was given the uzi to shoot on the shooting range and killed the instructor.
Uzi come, Uzi go.
I learned to drive when I was about 10 at a neighbors place.
1967. This kid was a free spirit a couple of years older than me whose dad had an old 1957 Dodge with a Hemi and push button shifter.
They had about 15 acres, some lawn, some trails in the woods.
It was great. I would never have driven on the road.
When my son was about four, I’d let him sit on my lap behind the wheel to “steer.” This was in our Explorer with the auto transmission shifter on the column. I’d surreptitiously put my foot on the brake to release the shifter, put it in drive, and say “See how easy it is? Your turn.” I’d quietly take my foot off the brake and, of course, he couldn’t move the shift lever no matter how hard he tried. It was real hard keeping a straight face. I eventually confessed and explained to him how things worked and why. He still loves to tell the story how I tricked him 20 years later.
Heh, ya that’s a good one. I have a one ton diesel, you don’t need the brake to move shifter around, so I need to be careful.
My son is 8, and he’s already a careful driver.
They pick up steering very easily, and the ones who can reach the pedals, when belted in, soon learn to brake.
I even let the older ones drive down the gravel road on the place in 2nd or 3rd gear, with the throttle advanced a bit -- but I'm still on board to "hit the kill switch"...
On a public road? In a car or truck? No way!!
I read where a parent or two did that and had a collision that was just enough to set off the air bag, which inflated and crushed the kid.
Well I am sufficiently old that air bags were not an issue!
He will be for the rest of his life, short may it be.
Many farmers have their kids driving in the fields. Her mother said it was a gravel road, so I assume rural. I will not judge the grandfather. I am sure this family is hurting enough.
states it was a gravel road.
Beautiful. Thanks.
If it was a relatively unused gravel road, it may not have been his fault. It all depends on how busy the road is normally.
Yes, he took a risk, but it might have been on a road that normally doesn’t see anybody in any 12 hour period.
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