Parents allow 11-year-old to drive car because they were sick of him playing GTA all day

midian182

midian182

Posts: 9,756   +121
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WTF?! Parents have long fought a losing battle to stop their kids from playing video games for too long, but sometimes the carrot is more effective than the stick. It appears a set of parents in the UK subscribed to that thinking, having allowed their 11-year-old boy to drive their car—a way of stopping him from playing GTA all day, apparently.

Police in the Lancaster town of Blackpool stropped a red Vauxhall Astra in a car park in the town center, discovering the minor behind the wheel.

"The driver of this car was 11-years-old. Yes, eleven,” tweeted Lancaster Road Police. "A family member was fed up with the child playing Grand Theft Auto all day on the Playstation, so brought him out to practice driving on a car park in Blackpool… The adult has been reported for traffic offences.”

A recent survey showed that while 86 percent of parents say their kids play games an excessive amount, three-quarters believe gaming has a positive impact on their children.

The other questionable part of this situation is that GTA V has a PEGI rating of 18+, so it’s not the most suitable game for an eleven-year-old, but studies have shown that most parents don’t pay attention to titles’ age ratings—as anyone who’s played the multiplayer element of CoD or GTA V can attest.

In the UK, it’s possible to apply for a provisional driving license when aged 15 years and nine months, with the legal driving age being 17. There are some exceptions where a driver can be 16, and those under 17 can learn to drive with qualified instructors on private land.

Image credit: Vadym Zaitsev via Shutterstock

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/84220-parents-allow-11-year-old-drive-car-because.html

 
I grew up in the country. I learned to drive stick around our property a bit older than that. A lot of friends who lived on farms learned to drive even younger. Many were driving four wheelers, dirt bikes and even tractors before their age had double digits. By their early teens, it was normal for them to hop in a truck and drive over to a field to work. I guess practicing driving in a city parking lot is not quite the same.
 
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MaXtor said:
I grew up in the country. I learned to drive stick around our property a bit older than that. A lot of friends who lived on farms learned to drive even younger. Many were driving four wheelers, dirt bikes and even tractors before their age had double digits. By their early teens, it was normal for them to hop in a truck and drive over to a field to work. I guess practicing driving in a city parking lot is not quite the same.
Click to expand...

Agreed by 12 I was driving my grandfather's truck 6 miles up the road to his other property to throw hay onto it's flatbed. Though it was a gravel road with maybe a car every 4 hours lol
 
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***** parents shouldn't be letting him play video games all day long...not to mention GTA.
Hey parents...if you DON'T have the time/energy/patience to RAISE a child, neuter yourself
so you don't put the burden on everyone else!
 
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"86 percent of parents say their kids play games an excessive amount"

There is this thing called a "power cord" you can take away. Give them a remote control car to play around with.

Are there penalties for allowing a child to watch media over their age? If yes, perhaps they need to be increased?

I have rode 4-wheelers since I was about 9 years old, and it was a 250 quad runner. Not a small one. A significant number of people of the older generations used to drive machinery and vehicles way out on country roads and fields at a young age. Letting a child do it in traffic should lead to jail time.
 
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When I'm playing CoD multiplayer and I hear a little kid on the mic... I always end up asking, "Where are your parents little one? You're under age for this game." Then the kid starts swearing at me. Really though, where are your parents!? Ugh!
 
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Cycloid Torus said:
Driving 40 hp twin Johnson's on a Boston Whaler before I was 12.
Click to expand...

Impressive since I think 25hp is the highest you can legally go before age 12. I am in that area as well. Grew up with tournament Mastercraft skiboats and we all drove them on the river every summer even at young ages. Good times. I never did beat up hookers, ripped drivers from their cars, and drove off with them though. Just in video games.
 
"Police in the Lancaster town of Blackpool "
"Lancaster Road Police"

...I have no words. Two seconds on google could have told you that Lancs Road Police= Lancashire Road Police, not Lancaster.
Lancashire is a county. Lancaster is a town. It's not hard, Techspot.
 
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OneSpeed said:
Depending on how you look at it, it could have been Call of Duty, and he could have had an AR15 instead.
Click to expand...

And the issue with that is?

I had a rifle I kept in my room when I was 10, I'd been shooting since I was 6. It's all about teaching gun safety honestly parents should be teaching their kids how to properly use a firearm as a young kid, it would avoid a lot of accidental deaths.
 
Suspend the license of the parents -- P L E A S E -- DUS driving under stupidity.
 
Parents were "sick" of their child playing GTA? No, they are literally SICK for allowing him to play it at all!
 
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