Skip to main content

YOUNG MOTORIST

Police in the US state of Michigan recently managed to stop a vehicle that had been taken without its owner's consent, with a seven year old boy at the wheel. The boy was dressed only in pyjamas and took his mother's Pontiac for a 32km drive before the police were able to apprehend him. The boy had been staying at his mother's house and decided he wanted to go and see his father, so he took the keys and the car. A member of the public saw the boy driving the car and alerted the police who gave pursuit. The
March 1, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Police in the US state of Michigan recently managed to stop a vehicle that had been taken without its owner's consent, with a seven year old boy at the wheel. The boy was dressed only in pyjamas and took his mother's Pontiac for a 32km drive before the police were able to apprehend him. The boy had been staying at his mother's house and decided he wanted to go and see his father, so he took the keys and the car. A member of the public saw the boy driving the car and alerted the police who gave pursuit. The boy drove at high speeds as the police gave chase but they were able to stop the vehicle and apprehend the child without injury. The mother was working night-shift during the incident and was unaware that her son had taken her car.

Related Content

  • Rebuilding a historic bridge linking the US and Canada
    March 8, 2016
    While many road authorities in North America are finding it difficult to stretch their bridge assets beyond half a century, one bridge is closing in on its centenary - David Arminas reports The international Peace Bridge, connecting the Canadian province of Ontario with the US state of New York, is 88 years young this year, and still going strong.
  • WHEELS
    March 6, 2012
    A 23 year old man in Queensland, Australia has been fined for driving a beer cooler while under the influence of alcohol. The man bought the motorised cool box for A$600 and, having assembled it, was so proud of his handiwork that he could not resist taking it for a midnight test run to demonstrate its performance to his friends However, the man had been drinking during the assembly process and his progress was somewhat erratic. When police stopped the man on his somewhat unusual vehicle, he was breathteste
  • TISPOL Conference: autonomous vehicles high on safety agenda
    February 2, 2017
    Safety and autonomous vehicles exercised the minds of some of Europe’s senior police officers at the recent TISPOL European Traffic Police Network Conference in the UK. The European Union looks like missing its target of halving the number of people killed on its roads each year by 2020. Just when European police forces are trying to get back on target, along comes the autonomous vehicle with all its inherent safety issues.
  • Distracted driving?
    September 11, 2015
    A woman in the UK was spotted by a cyclist eating her breakfast cereal while driving her children to school. The cyclist remonstrated with the woman for her behaviour, receiving insults in reply. Infuriated at her attitude, the cyclist then posted footage online of the incident that he had filmed with his helmet-mounted camera. This attracted thousands of views and numerous comments, before the incident was reported in the press. The woman subsequently handed herself in to the police and was charged for mot