Boy, 4, Drives Mom's Car To Video Store And Back
Police Don't Plan To File Charges

SAND LAKE, Mich. -- Michigan authorities don't plan to seek charges in the case of a 4-year-old boy who drove his mother's car to a video store and back.

Sand Lake Police Chief Doug Heugel said the boy is too young to charge and his mother didn't even know he was awake.

The chief said the boy walked out of his family apartment about 1:30 a.m. Friday and drove his mother's Geo Prizm a quarter mile to a video store. Finding it closed, the boy headed home.

A police officer spotted him and followed the car back to the apartments, where the boy hit two parked cars, then backed into the officer's car.

The mother said her son tried to drive before and she let him steer the car from her lap.

Link: http://www.wftv.com/news/4169707/detail.html

No she shouldn't be. I am very impressed.

the mother was neglegent for having her child sit on her lap while she drove before. a child has to be in the back restrained in a car seat. i think she should be charged.

the mother was neglegent for having her child sit on her lap while she drove before. a child has to be in the back restrained in a car seat. i think she should be charged.
When I was little (about the same age as this kid), sometimes my dad would set me on his lap and let me steer the old Biscayne down the street.  Of course, this was long before they came out with airbags (let alone mandatory child seat laws), so I don't know if that's such a great idea today.

No she shouldn't be. I am very impressed.


Yeah....he only hit three automobiles.

When I was little (about the same age as this kid), sometimes my dad would set me on his lap and let me steer the old Biscayne down the street.  Of course, this was long before they came out with airbags (let alone mandatory child seat laws), so I don't know if that's such a great idea today.


same here. my father did the same, most of us have sat in the front seats when we were children while our parents drove. i bet there would have been more of us here had the laws existed 30 years ago like they do today.

I think it is the parents right to decide how they want there child to sit in an Vehicle. Obviously there must be some guidelines but at the end of the day when do you define what is a child.. like would you still have to sit in the backseat at 14?

This is a completley isolated incident and obviously this kid is very bright. Most Aren't.

I think it is the parents right to decide how they want there child to sit in an Vehicle. Obviously there must be some guidelines but at the end of the day when do you define what is a child.. like would you still have to sit in the backseat at 14?

This is a completley isolated incident and obviously this kid is very bright. Most Aren't.


I think the recommendations (they are not required) here in America is that a child sits in the back until they are four feet and nine inches (4'9'') tall, or something like that.  No word on what to do if your child is a midget.

I think the recommendations here in America are that a child sits in the back until they are 4'9'', or something like that.  No word on what to do if your child is a midget.


LMAO

When I was a kid, I always wanted to sit on my mom's lap and steer and she would never let me.  When I was 4, my 16 year old sister left me in the car while she ran into my grandma's house.  I decided that I was going to pretend to drive, so I put the car in reverse, and it rolled down my grandmother's very steep driveway, continued across the street, and took out the neighbor's wood fence.  No one was charged with anything, but I'm pretty sure my sister got into trouble for leaving me in the car!

The mother should pay for any damage to the cars he hit.I mean,how do you prove you don't know your kid was awake anyway?A lot of people lie to get out of having to explain themselves!

Unless I'm really high, the article did say the kid drove himself to the videostore while his mom was napping!  So this isn't the lapsy kind of driving some of us did with our folks.

I don't think the mom should be charged.  She made a error in judgment, that's not the same as breaking the law.  A four year old should never be left unattended to just walk out into the street, sure, but could she really have predicted the little fellow already knew how to drive?

Anyway, this is typical.  You had a four year-old doing fine driving himself home from the video store...until the cops started hassling him.  Just one of those situations, cops get involved, it gets worse.

I like the mom's philosophy...old enough to walk, old enough to drive, old enough to go out and run errands for me so I can take my lazy azz a nap!  What are kids for anyway?

Seriously, if we as a society start dragging everyone who errs in judgment into the legal system,  that would be like sending all pot smokers to prison...Oh, never mind.

Give that kid a licence, lol.  ;D

same here. my father did the same, most of us have sat in the front seats when we were children while our parents drove. i bet there would have been more of us here had the laws existed 30 years ago like they do today.
Sat in the front seat? Hell, when I was really little, sometimes I'd lay up on that ledge between the back seat and the rear window and look up at the sky. And back then it was no big deal. I think about it now and it seems crazy. It wasn't that my parents were irresponsible or anything (they were far from it) but back in the 70's that was acceptible behavior. Child seats were pretty much non-existent in the 70's (except maybe for infants). Normally I'm against a lot of government restrictions, but the child-restraint laws were long overdue.

As far as the mom in this case goes? She should be held responsibe for the damage to the other cars. She should then send her son to Skip Barber Racing School! ;D

Sat in the front seat? Hell, when I was really little, sometimes I'd lay up on that ledge between the back seat and the rear window and look up at the sky. And back then it was no big deal. I think about it now and it seems crazy. It wasn't that my parents were irresponsible or anything (they were far from it) but back in the 70's that was acceptible behavior. Child seats were pretty much non-existent in the 70's (except maybe for infants). Normally I'm against a lot of government restrictions, but the child-restraint laws were long overdue.

Heck, who ever though of carseats? We used to ride in the "wayback," no safety belts, no nothing.  One time my dad spun out on some ice, I got banged around pretty good.
Seriously, when I was a kid, it would've been MORE dangerous to ride a bike with one of those helmets, not less, because of what the neighborhood bullies would do to you if they saw you wearing one!  Bike helmets?  We don't need no stinking bike helmets!  Yeah, we used to do wheelies, handlebar double riding, and jumps on our Huffys, I'm lucky my head doesn't look like a smashed melon!
There are all sorts of unsafe things we used to do that no one in their right mind would do now.  Who would allow the game "bobbing for apples" at a b'day party today?  It was a standard game, like "pin the tale on the donkey" when I was a kid.  Ick!
We used to jump at the opportunity to ride in the back of a pick-up, you know, no camper, just the wind blowing through your hair.  Today anyone who has a pick-up would be totally nuts to let anyone ride back there.  That's a law suit waiting to happen.
I could leave the house at 8:00 on a Saturday morning, romp around all day, have supper at my friend's, and not come in until 8:00 pm.  My parents wouldn't worry.  They might be irritated I didn't call about supper!  Today if a kid doesn't call on his cell phone every hour, mom sends the SWAT team!  There's just less of a sense of assumed trust these days.

It was 1:30 a.m.  She had probably gone to bed for the night...much different than just taking a nap. ;)

I have a difficult time seeing how this kid managed to drive.  There's no way my 5 y.o. could reach the pedals & see over the steering wheel at the same time, and he's fairly tall for his age.

Oh, 1:30 a.m., well there's a big difference.  OK, mom should take care to securing the place so the kid can't just walk out of the place.  Yet, I can't tell you the number of people with a story of how either they or a sibling was found in his jammies half a mile from home.  My sister did that once when she was two.  Legal sanction can't prevent all mistakes.

Sheesh,

I couldn't drive a car if i tried, and I'm 19.
I'm actually quite impressed!

Sheesh,

I couldn't drive a car if i tried, and I'm 19.
I'm actually quite impressed!

Sure you could. It's just like anything else, you gotta just go out and do it for the first time, and as you get more practice you'll start getting better at it and gain more confidence in yourself.  ;)

No she shouldn't be charged.

I don't think she should be charged with anything...this type of thing can happen to anyone.  Kids are smart, they figure out ways to get things left out of reach all the time.  It makes me glad I have a stick shift...I can see my daughter trying to do something like this.

Marian, I am betting that she will pay for the damages done to the other cars. :)

My grandfather used to let us steer while sitting on his lap.  Of course he would take us out to the boonies where there was no chance of killing anyone. Ah, the good old days.

No she shouldn't be charged.  Unless she's lying about something that's 100% accident.  It's about as much her fault as if she broke her foot while walking.  Although it would be kind of her to pay for the damage. :)

-FHF :D