[Damo]

The parents of a six-year-old boy in the US have been charged with neglect after the boy drove their car for 10km in an attempt to get to school on time.

Police in Virginia said the boy, who was not named, took the keys to the car after he missed the school bus.

He drove for six miles (10km) on major roads, weaving through traffic and overtaking slower cars, before losing control and going off the road.

The boy told police he learned to drive by playing video games.

Protective custody

Police said the boy was so intent on getting to school after failing to make the bus, that he got the keys to his father's Ford Taurus and took the wheel himself.

"When he got out of the car, he started walking to school. He did not want to miss breakfast and PE," said Northumberland County Sheriff Chuck Wilkins.

His road trip came to an end only after he ran off the road several times before hitting an embankment and utility pole. He was not, police said, wearing a seat belt.

He was treated for minor injuries at a hospital before police took him to school.

It happened at 0740 on Monday, while the boy's mother was still asleep.

Both of his parents have been charged with endangering their child. He and his four-year-old brother are now in protective custody.

Me, I hated school. I would have been right back inside and back to bed...


Link

 

[MikeD]

They should be charged for causing reference to the metric system in an article about the US of A. This is how communists get a hold of things.

 

[DaveW]

Dude..... Look at the banking and Car industries.

You are communists now!

 

[Damo]

The US&A will be stuck in the medieval times if it doesn't change.

I mean you weigh things in 'stones' right? How fcked up is that??

Metric. It's your future. Embrace it.

 

[Samirol]

Stones is the brits

 

[splat]

Hey what is wrong with keeping track of how far I ride in Rods or Smoots ?

 

[bohorec]

That kid is true geek.

They should be charged for causing reference to the metric system in an article about the US of A. This is how communists get a hold of things.

 

[MikeD]

The US&A will be stuck in the medieval times if it doesn't change.

This would be why Ciaran (and the rest of the SCA) is so against the metric shift, isn't it?? They at least have their fingers crossed. Roast pig, serving wenches, and yards, stones, and furlongs all around!!

But in all seriousness, I thought only rugby players weighed things in "stone." No God-fearing American knows what a stone is, at least as a unit of measure. If you used it in the States, you might find yourself pelted to death with small, round rocks as a Tory redcoat-lover. Or even big, flat rocks and a packet of gravel or two.

 

[$tinkle]

But in all seriousness, I thought only rugby players weighed things in "stone."

i don't think they're called rugby players any longer. i think it's "tone deaf, i'll-fvck-anything-that-smells-of-rotting-roos--prompting-me-to-puke-on-it-mid-coitus, ear-necked, wall-eyed mongoloid, maori fanboiz"

 

[valve bouncer]

You'll all be glad to know that the BBC reported it as 6 miles. Petrol is in litres though so it's kind of tough to work out your mileage there.

 

[splat]

You'll all be glad to know that the BBC reported it as 6 miles. Petrol is in litres though so it's kind of tough to work out your mileage there.

and it is kind of interesting , that it is referred to as Mileage even in place where it is KM/l

 

[dan-o]

This whole mess could've been avoided by cutting the free breakfast and PE programs from school.

 

[AngryMetalsmith]

I love the kid's determination.

 

[ohio]

Proof that video games are educational. ****, he did better than 85% of 16yo first time drivers, and is on par with half of the Bay Area.

 

[reflux]

How many parsecs?

 

[Damo]

Mileage sounds better than kilometerage.

 

[Damo]

What we need is a metric clock.
That would be sweet.

 

[MikeD]

Ten metric hours a day would do it. It'd be like the ratio of pounds to kilograms.

 

[Damo]

100 seconds a minute, 100 minutes an hour, ten hours a day.
It's too early for me to do the maths, but it just sounds right.
Viva le Metric.

 

[MikeD]

Damo is a Borg.