Police in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, are investigating the circumstances surrounding an accident involving a nine-year-old boy behind the wheel of a car on Saturday.
Two people, including the child driver, were injured in the collision that occurred at an intersection on National Route 4 in Morioka City at around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Fuji TV reported. The boy was driving his mother’s car when he rear-ended a mini-vehicle that was stopped at the intersection. The mini-vehicle then hit another car.
Both the child and a woman in her 30s, who was driving the mini-vehicle, sustained minor injuries in the collision.
Police received several reports about 10 minutes before the accident about a child driving a car. A patrol car was pursuing the boy’s car at the time of the accident. The boy was driving at a speed of 30 to 40 kilometers per hour.
According to police reports, the boy managed to take the car keys while his mother wasn’t looking while they were at home. She called police when she noticed her son and her car were gone.
© Japan Today
12 Comments
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Mickelicious
What a story! Great that no-one was seriously injured.
Please do not grind this kid down in the juku mill.
iwatejay
Given the time of day and that being a pretty busy intersection here in Iwate, lucky there were only minor injuries.
virusrex
Extremely fortunate that the accident did not cause more damage, no point in speculating how this came to happen, just be grateful the kid and the other driver had only light injuries.
Numan
Yeah, the only thing we did was turn on the engine. It is amazing how none of us died growing up doing the things that are considered seriously dangerous today.
A unfortunate story that I read about a few years ago was involving a 8-9 year old boy that snuck out at night for a joy ride in his mom's car. His younger sister went with him. He crashed the car, and his little sister died.
snowymountainhell
Will there be ‘full disclosure’ and release of both ‘dribe-rekoda’, the adolescent’s and the police’ cameras?
Will be interesting to hear if he uses the Al Cowling/OJ Simpson defense:
Their entire ‘pursuit’ reach a max of 56kph (35 mph).
This boy reached a max. 25 mph.
Thank the gods there was no one else hurt.
smithinjapan
If not for the accident, it would have been quite the thrill for the kid. Not much you can fault the mother for, though she'll have to pay for the injuries and costs, as you would never suspect a kid if going to up and steal your keys.
shogun36
She better sell that car and get a manual stick shift car.
Then
Either that kid will have no idea how to start it up,
or
If he does start it up, sign him up for Indy, NASCAR, or F1 school, because he could be a prodigy.
snowymountainhell
Can someone clarify:
Q1: Car vs “mini-vehicle”? Yellow tag, 3-wheel “combini-delivery” style build for one-person only?
Q2: No mention of ‘the father’? If so, in ‘the West’: “Wait til you father gets home!”
Q3: Should we assume a stressed-out ‘single mother’? If so, “Wait til we get home!”
Luddite
I remember my friend taking her dad’s car keys and we all had turns driving the car around the local waste ground. We were 11.
Desert Tortoise
It must be two years ago now a 5yo boy was pulled over on I-15 in Utah, on his way to California to buy a Lamborghini after his mother refused to buy one for him. He was pulled over without incident. He had something like $5 on him. Cops did a double take when they saw him in the car.