Five-Year-Old Boy Drives Car Looking for Father, Stops After Traffic Accident

Five-Year-Old Boy Drives Car Looking for Father, Stops After Traffic Accident
A child sitting inside a car. (China Photos/Getty Images)
Daniel Holl
8/23/2019
Updated:
9/4/2019

A five-year-old boy caused a minor traffic accident while driving his family’s SUV with his three-year-old sister in the car, as they were out looking for their father, according to Chinese online news outlet Pear Videos.

No one was injured in the accident on Aug. 19. Footage of the incident was taken by witnesses and uploaded to Chinese social media.

Police in She County, Hubei province, China gave the father “critical education,” which translates to being let off with only a warning.

The report did not provide the names of those involved in the incident.

The Search for Dad

The report did not mention where the father was or how the children got the keys, much less into the car. It did not say who was looking after the children at the time, if anyone. However, the children went out specifically to find their father, according to Pear Videos.
The boy managed to drive the car for about 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) from home until he ran into an electric moped. Coincidentally, the driver of the moped was a relative of theirs. Fortunately, neither the children nor the relative received any injuries from the accident.

The crash appeared to have drawn attention. Bystanders took their cellphones out and started recording when they saw who the driver was.

“Whose car is this?” one witness asked as she recorded the back of the car, according to footage from Pear Videos. “You can see the license plate here, quickly come get the car,” she said in the video, perhaps addressing the police.

“Children were driving the car.”

“Take the key out,” a man can be heard saying to the boy in the driver’s seat, as another witness uses their smartphone to record footage, according to Pear Videos. As people surround the SUV, the three-year-old girl can be seen standing in the back.

Soon after, the police arrived at the scene.

No further details were given about police involvementother than the father was let off with a warning.
Daniel Holl is a Sacramento, California-based reporter, specializing in China-related topics. He moved to China alone and stayed there for almost seven years, learning the language and culture. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
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