While most eight-year-olds are winding down with bedtime stories, one unnamed Columbiana County youngster decided he’d rather star in his own action sequence. Armed with the keys to his dad’s one-ton work van, a pocketful of piggy-bank change, and driving tips binge-watched on YouTube, the boy ferried his four-year-old sister a full mile to their local McDonald’s.
“He didn’t hit a single thing on the way there. It was unreal.” — Patrolman Jacob Koehler, East Palestine Police Department
A nameless 8-year-old child from Ohio certainly thinks they are. After watching YouTube videos on how to drive, he and his 4-year-old sister waited for their parents to fall asleep.
This happened on a Sunday in Columbiana County, Ohio. The child and his sibling took their father’s van to the nearest McDonald’s, which took them through 4 intersections, over rail-road tracks and also several right and left turns.
Police officer Koehler said the child drove over a mile from his home with his little sister in tha back of the van. Witnesses told police the young driver did obey all traffic laws and drove the speed limit.
Once at McDonald’s, a family friend who happened to be eating at the restaurant notified the grandparents. The children did get to eat their cheeseburgers, nuggets and fries before police arrived.
We can only speculate how this kid managed to look over the steering wheel, but he must have looked old enough for the drive through staff to still serve him.
What was the most impressive is how he claimed to have learnt how to drive, by watching YouTube videos.
There is a few possibilities on how this child learned to drive. Maybe he watched this video a few times and immediately before heading out, maybe he planned the adventure and has been practicing for a while. Police assume he had just seen the video and decided they wanted some McEats.
There might be a pattern emerging here. Another child was seen driving a car full of children and a goat in New Zealand.
