Posted on 06/03/2005 3:34:10 AM PDT by kingattax
If you see this kid racing stock cars on TV one day, remember, you heard about him here first.
Paul Gilfedder, 8, of Cornish, Maine, couldn't wait to try out his new gas-powered go-kart, so he sneaked out of the house and went for a 20-mile solo ride in the wee hours.
Parents Steve and Wendy thought their son was asleep in an upstairs bedroom when they were awakened before 5 a.m. last Friday by a police officer who told them Paul was found on Route 107. He apparently had been on the road for several hours.
"It was horrifying," Wendy told The Associated Press. " Yesterday was the first time I could talk about this without crying."
Paul was so eager to test his new birthday gift that he waited until after his parents and three siblings were asleep to ride it along the highway, bound for the town of Standish to visit a friend.
"He knew the route because we had driven it many times," Mom said.
The incident enabled young Paul to have frank discussions with his parents and a police officer
I bet there was a frank discussion and a little life lesson after this stunt.
I am willing to bet there is a go cart for sale at a low price in this town.
If this were my boy, we would only have a "frank discussion" if my belt happened to be named Frank. This kid is lucky to be alive.
Get your motor runnin'
Head out on the highway
What he did was stupid and he could have been seriously injured or worse, but I bet he had a great time and it'll be a wonderful story to tell to his grandchildren. I'm glad that he made it home safely.
Maine PONG
Yep...thats what young boys do.
I used to dream about hitting the open road in my go-cart. Maybe it's good that I didn't.
Giving a kid something like a go-cart is a test of maturity, to see if they are ready to handle the responsibility and freedom. Eight-years-old is a little young for this, IMHO, but your milage may vary.
The purpose of such a test, as it is with all tests, is to determine the answer, yes or no. In this case, the answer is "No - the boy is not ready".
There is a very simple solution to this problem. Drain the tank, remove the spark plug, and put the cart in the shed, along with a stern admonition that if the cart is touched, you will personally torch it apart into little bitty pieces and make the child eat it, or some such. After a couple of years, maybe on his 10th Birthday, you can retrieve the go-cart from the shed and try again.
I agree.
Believe me, I'm not saying that the kid shouldn't be punished or that what he did was right. It just sounded like a typical eight year old boy kind of thing to do. I can imagine my husband doing something like that when he was that age.
Hopefully, everyone involved learned something from this experience.
Back when I was in grade school (a long time ago), a school chum, who was older than this kid, took his go-cart out for a spin on the highway (2-lane back then) and got caught by the state cops doing over 100 mph. It was the last time he did that but went on in life to bigger and better gas squirters (motorcycles and, eventually, helicopters).
This story is missing a few key elements.
I don't see where Division of Family Services is trying to take the kid away from his parents, because they didn't properly supervise him.
I don't see where the policeman used a stun gun to restrain the kid, nor where he put the kid, the parents, and the go cart in custody.
Has common sense returned to Maine, or does DFS and the police need training?
Indy 500 driver in training......
If your husband is anything like me, he might to something this stupid tomorrow...
Most go-karts, especially back then ("a long time ago"), had Briggs & Stratton lawnmower engines. Never heard of of a go-kart with one of these small engines capable of hitting 100 miles an hour.
Maybe I'm wrong.
LOL You're right. He would. And he'd expect me to fix his boo boo's when he wiped out and hurt himself.
I want to be that Kid. In my fantasy the go-kart is a liitle bigger and more expensive (500+HP w/ 6sp Tanny).
Good points. I was also expecting some story about how the poor lad had narrowly escaped the evil SUV's which come out at night.
That was no go cart.
The frame would bend itself into a pretzel. Just get a motorcycle.
Un-huh.
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