Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Boy, 4, drives mom's car to video store and back
MLive.com ^ | February 7, 2005 | The Associated Press

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


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; US: Michigan
KEYWORDS: joyride
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-54 last
To: Dallas59

Lucky! You ever take it off any sweet jumps?


41 posted on 02/07/2005 8:34:34 AM PST by numberonepal (Don't Even Think About Treading On Me)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: mhking

Thats what meanie partents get for not getting the right videos & games !


42 posted on 02/07/2005 8:34:46 AM PST by DollyCali (The little fuzzy guy saw his shadow ... and I took his picture!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: Incandesia

:-)

Cheers.


43 posted on 02/07/2005 8:34:53 AM PST by Prince Charles
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: Prince Charles
Well, if the shoe fits....

I doubt that a "ditzy mom" shoe would, I'm a size 12.

And while I realize that I'm just a bad, bad Dad by not making sure that my daughter is firmly buckled into her booster seat during our half-mile-an-hour trip up the driveway int the garage...

Actually, no I don't.

Quit being such a nancy, Charles.

44 posted on 02/07/2005 8:41:07 AM PST by cspackler (There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: numberonepal

I think i'm going to run for class prez.


45 posted on 02/07/2005 8:41:52 AM PST by scab4faa (Holy crap! I didn't sign on for this!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: cspackler

Hon, it's so early to be mean. Try switching to decaf.


46 posted on 02/07/2005 8:50:34 AM PST by Prince Charles
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: Prince Charles
Hon, it's so early to be mean.

There's a big difference between sarcastic and mean.

And please, don't call me hon...

Yes, still sarcasm...

47 posted on 02/07/2005 8:57:45 AM PST by cspackler (There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: wmichgrad

Well, my 2cts. worth.

I have a 5 year old grandson and for Christmas he got a John Deere Gator. He learned in a matter of minutes how to drive forward and stop and backup and turn around.

We decided that this would make driving cars a little more easy with learning to drive these little vehicles. And also, kids are driving these little trucks and motor bikes and other kinds of grown-up toys.

So I don't find this story too inconceivable.


48 posted on 02/07/2005 9:01:20 AM PST by LadyPilgrim (Sealed my pardon with His Blood, Hallelujah!!! What a Savior!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cspackler

Hey, happy motoring to you and your kids! I'll look forward to reading about you.

Cheers.


49 posted on 02/07/2005 9:04:55 AM PST by Prince Charles
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: cspackler
Watch out then.

When my son was 8 he already knew how to drive and he went to a friend's house after school. He and his friend and his 2 sisters 4 and 6 got on a tractor with no cab and no fenders and drove 3 miles to their other friend's house and then back home. They were very lucky that no-one got hurt. The kids all got spankings and the babysitter got fired.

50 posted on 02/07/2005 9:06:04 AM PST by tiki (Won one against the Flipper)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: tiki; Prince Charles
Yes, I occaisionally allow my daughter to sit in my lap while I pull my car into the garage. Mostly because she comes out of the house when she hears me come home from work, and I'd rather know she's in the car with me as a safety issue.

Her Grandfather also lets her "drive" the tractor on the farm.

I would much rather have her have these little wonderful memories of her childhood, with the connected lessons that we give her on what she can and can't do by herself, that to nanny her through her childhood and follow her around with pillows in case she falls. I am taking every opportunity in her little life to teach her lessons on personal responsibility.

If she were to ever actually go out to my car and drive off and be hurt or killed, my failure will not have been because I "taught" her how to drive, my failure will have been in the fact that I

1) Did not teach her not to do such a thing, or

2) Was not watching her as well as I should have been.

51 posted on 02/07/2005 9:20:34 AM PST by cspackler (There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: cspackler

I vaguely remember being a little girl and my dad letting me "drive" on his lap in a nearly empty parking lot.


52 posted on 02/07/2005 12:21:34 PM PST by HungarianGypsy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: numberonepal
Oh yea. Everybody would go to the Field by the railroad tracks. So long ago.
53 posted on 02/08/2005 2:02:43 AM PST by Dallas59 (Bush said the "F" word 27 times January 20th, 2005!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: Blue Jays

Many automatics on the road have no brake interlock. I have a now 5 year old who could have done this at 4, no sweat. We kept the keys away from her.


54 posted on 02/08/2005 2:11:21 AM PST by Smokin' Joe (Look Twice, Save a life!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-54 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson