Posted on 02/07/2005 7:48:46 AM PST by wmichgrad
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. Friday, Sand Lake Police Chief Doug Heugel said. Finding the store closed, the youngster began a slow trip home.
Weaving and with its headlights off, the car got the attention of Officer 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 two parked cars. The boy put the car in reverse and struck Osga's cruiser.
Osga then discovered the boy, whose mother told police her son tried to drive the car earlier after she let him steer the vehicle from her lap.
"He's 4 years old, his mom didn't even know he was up," Heugel told The Grand Rapids Press for a Sunday story. "I don't think he even realizes what he did."
No charges will be filed against the boy or his mother, Heugel 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.
Information from: The Grand Rapids Press, http://www.gr-press.com
I read this story earlier and the kid was 10 in that link.
The lad must not know about Blockbuster's rent by mail program.
I wonder what movie he rented?
"Driving Miss Daisy", I bet.
I'm not buying it.
Rainman.
"I'm a very good driver..."
Are you "renting" it?
I don't believe this newspaper story. Perhaps the child was in fourth grade, but not four years old. The fine skills of finding the correct key, twisting the ignition, actuating the brake while shifting into gear (brake interlock on automatics) or balancing clutch and gas (manual transmissions) are too complex for a little baby.
I'm waving the B.S. flag at the newspaper for this story.
~ Blue Jays ~
"Dude, where's my car"?
And why wasn't the ditzy mom ticketed for not having the boy in a car seat?
Nope.
It seems that if you were to apply the "logic" of the lefties to these kinds of incidents, we should go ahead and teach these kids to drive and give them car keys since they're obviously doing it anyway. Isn't that what they've been telling us about sex for years?
Osga then discovered the boy, whose mother told police her son tried to shoot the pistol earlier after she let him hold the weapon while sitting on her lap.
"He's 4 years old, his mom didn't even know he was up," Heugel told The Grand Rapids Press for a Sunday story. "I don't think he even realizes what he did."
No charges will be filed against the boy or his mother, Heugel said.
Hope he at least put gas in the car.
This coulda' been my kid.
Oh please, I let my 5 year old daughter "help" me pull the car into our garage all of the time.
Why? I don't see any relation here...
The whole village should be ticketed since it take a village to raise a child.
The 4 year old was in Sand Lake which is about 35 miles NE of Grand Rapids. And it is true.
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