9-year-old boy in Gifu drives family car 3 km to grandmother's home

Thursday 06th November, 06:18 PM JST

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wanderlust at 07:20 PM JST - 6th November

Maybe Nissan will use him as a poster boy for their "automatic car", with automatic radar warnings of obstacles, auto accident avoiding, auto parking, auto starting, auto driving, etc....
electric2004 at 08:02 PM JST - 6th November

Nidu:

Unmanned cars for common use are not yet invented.

But they exist as prototype. Tested by DARPA. Last time a Volkswagen as Robot-car Stanley was the winner in autonomous navigation.

See:

http://www.egmcartech.com/2007/02/22/sick-of-driving-let-stanley-the-robot-car-take-the-wheel/

Or Google for "Robot car Stanley DARPA"
TokyoGas at 08:15 PM JST - 6th November

Good story. I remember once in the states a couple of kids, maybe 8~12 years old, took off in the family winnebago. They wrecked it and it burned to the ground. The kids were not hurt but I can imagine their parents giving them a taste of the belt.
kavikahi at 09:30 PM JST - 6th November

A born leader this one if you can keep him alive without killing his ambition.

Sheesh Dad at least take him out to the country and off the roads.
Disillusioned at 10:16 PM JST - 6th November

Clever little bugger! I wish the kids at the high school I work in showed half the initiative of this little fella. However, luckily his little joy-ride didn't end in tragedy. - My parents always kept their car keys on wraps from when I was 6 or 7 y/o. It wasn't til I was about 11 I worked out where they were.
michaelkane at 11:29 PM JST - 6th November

Good story. At least he is not driving over people and had peaceful intentions.
TheDonald at 01:25 AM JST - 7th November

That is why you wait exactly to the legal age before you even talk about driving, drinking, smoking, or even having sex. So you will not be held liable.

This is century 21, my friend; Kids already know about drinking, smoking, and having sex.. and, chances are, yours has a bad habit in need of some form of intervention relating to one or more of them.. by the time they're the legal age to partake.

Teach em the good, bad, and especially the ugly of it before they get to the point where it's even a thought, and you might accomplish something in the way of saving them from themselves.

In other news, this is an amazing little story. I wonder what could've guided this boy, who apparently couldn't even see over the wheel, on an accident free path to a desired destination.

Must be some part jedi :p. Thank goodness nobody was hurt.

I wonder, had he been courted by a "big bad wolf" or ..some weird predator guy.. would he have known that that person was ok to run over, and then continued on to grandmas house with his basket o goodies? xD.
kjunluc2 at 02:49 AM JST - 7th November

An 8 year old neighbor in AZ used to drive around the neighborhood; his 2 year old brother, with a voice like a foghorn, standing in the front seat giving him directions. "Watch it, Joe. Fence, Joe. Turn, Joe.

A mentally challenged aunt once left the engine running while she went into Circle K. The 2 year old put the car in reverse and backed it out across the street. A 7 foot rockwall stopped him. Luckily he didn't get T-boned/

Talk about parenting in Japan.
KitsuneYoukai at 07:05 AM JST - 7th November

If I were a parent I would have been besides myself wondering what could have happened to him but I must say it made me shuckle. I could imagine how the passerby's looked as this car passed them. The fact that the kid was able to make it to a parking lot finding out he was lost is too cute.
CavemanLawyer at 08:51 AM JST - 7th November

I wonder, had he been courted by a "big bad wolf" or ..some weird predator guy.. would he have known that that person was ok to run over, and then continued on to grandmas house with his basket o goodies? xD.

Sounds like a summary of Little Red Driving Dude.

Somebody get the kid a map!
nisegaijin at 09:25 AM JST - 7th November

this kid is gonna be a leader, or a criminal, when he gets older.

What are you talking about?! He is the next Luis Hamilton!
electric2004 at 12:58 PM JST - 7th November

Reading this, I am happy that my little one (3 years) is still satisfied when playing with his Tomica drive simulator with Navigation for TV. Yes, this is for children from 3 years on. It has a handle, connects to the TV, and one has to use light, wiper, horn and ignition key.

I know, I have to be careful, he might figure out how to drive a real car. So next step is Mario Cart for Wii. This will keep him busy.
tmarie at 01:05 PM JST - 7th November

How the heck is this kid cute? He freaken stole a car and put people's lives at risk. His parents should be questioned about their parenting skills.

Was he running away or what is the story with heading to grandma's??
JPYuki at 03:39 PM JST - 7th November

I hope he wore his seat belt. It is dangerous to drive without one and it is against the law (at least in some US states) and he can get a ticket.
bushlover at 08:52 AM JST - 10th November

Good on ya dad for teaching him to drive via video games. Now do you think you could teach him a little about safety and responsibility to public safety? Thanks that would be appreciated. Applaud the kid for learning so well and not driving off the road in the 3 km he did having a hard time to see the road.