9-year-old boy in Gifu drives family car 3 km to grandmother’s home
Thursday 06th November, 06:18 PM JST
GIFU —
A 9-year-old boy drove his family’s car alone Monday about 3 kilometers from their home in Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture, until police caught him halfway to his grandmother’s home, police said Thursday. The third-grade elementary school student was quoted by police as saying, ‘‘I learned from my father’s driving and at game arcades.’’
The incident, which took place on the morning of a national holiday when traffic was relatively light, caused no accidents. Police cautioned his parents to watch the car more carefully. Police received a call at around 7:30 a.m. Monday from a passer-by who reported that a car appeared to be unmanned and was running along a road in Yoro in the same prefecture.
Officers found the car in a nearby convenience store parking lot. The boy told the officers at that time that he was lost. The boy left his home at around 6 a.m. that day planning to get to his grandmother’s home in Sekigahara in the prefecture.
The boy is 135 centimeters tall and the witness apparently could not see him from outside the car.
