Filed under: Safety
VIDEO: 6-year-old learns to drive in GTA, takes mom's Taurus to school
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"How many times have I told you to stop playing those video games and go to school?" For any kid addicted to his xBox or PlayStation 3, that's bound to sound familiar. The clever (or fortunate) ones will manage to keep the fun rolling with a PSP or Nintendo DS, but at least one child has taken things a step further.
When the six-year-old son of David Eugene Dodson and Jacqulyn Deana Waltman of Wicomico Church, Virginia, missed the bus to school in the morning, he grabbed the keys to the family's Ford Taurus and drove himself. Well, almost. The young driver made it surprisingly far, over a bridge and around a few corners, until he crashed the Taurus into an electrical piling...and then proceeded on foot, determined to make it to school.
The child is now in protective custody together with his four-year-old brother while his parents face child endangerment charges. When asked by state troopers how he learned to drive, he freely told the officials that he honed his chops in front of the television, playing video games like Grand Theft Auto and Monster Truck Jam. Who said video games were a waste of time? Follow the jump to view the AP television news report.
[Source: The Seattle Times]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
MachinaDC5 6:37PM (1/09/2009)
If that were my kid... I'd be proud.
Angry, but proud.
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catgirlshyla 6:07AM (1/10/2009)
Proud that due to the fact they are LATE to school (like LATE in reporting stories days old), they'd commit Grand Theft Auto?
chconline 6:38PM (1/09/2009)
That's pretty good. I've played years of Need for Speed and Midtown Madness 2 (With a steering wheel) and it still took me an hour before I can drive a real car right.
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jcar302 6:42PM (1/09/2009)
So the parents sleep while their 6 year old gets himself off to school?
They let him play GTA?
I'm guessing this is one of those cases where the parents use tv and video games as a baby sitter.
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Samurai Jack 6:45PM (1/09/2009)
Proud? You're joking, right?
Look at it this way. The parents allowed the kid to have access to a deadly weapon. It's only luck he didn't kill a person or himself. In that sense it's a good thing the parents were charged. And not to make this about video games, but what kind of parent lets his/her six year old play GTA? Because soliciting hookers, profanity and killing people should be a major part of every first grader's experience.
The bottom line, based on evidence as presented in the media (so of course it's somewhat suspect): Bad, inattentive parents.
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MachinaDC5 7:03PM (1/09/2009)
Yeah, well... Guess I'll be a cooler parent than you. :P
kballs 7:07PM (1/09/2009)
Yeah right, who the heck locks up their car keys in a safe like a gun? Kids and teenagers OFTEN sneak the keys and go for a joy ride, you just don't hear about it unless they're really young AND get caught by the cops (i.e. "newsworthy").
It's one thing to say they are bad parents, but no parents have true control of their kids' actions, it's only an illusion on both sides (some parents think they have "well behaved kids" and some kids worry more about punishment than others so they have a glass ceiling)... GTA? Who knows, maybe he played at a friends house? Either way this kid needs to be taught a lesson, like running over his video game console saying "I learned this playing GTA!"
happy_penguin 7:14PM (1/09/2009)
"Yeah, well... Guess I'll be a cooler parent than you. :P"
See you on Steve Wilkos. I'm sure he'll be screaming at you "GET OFF MY STAGE!!!"
MachinaDC5 7:17PM (1/09/2009)
No way, I want to BE Steve Wilkos! :D
Harrison 6:46PM (1/09/2009)
My thoughts:
1. Why is a 6-year old playing GTA?
2. Thank God that wasn't me. I'd have killed myself attempting "drifting" with the e-brake, 180 deg. turns, that-cool-slide into-a-parking-space trick, and all sorts of vehicular mischief not intended for a Toyota Camry.
3. Holy s**t he was lucky. But sheesh, kids these days.
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Mobius_1 7:13AM (1/10/2009)
I think No.1 is why the parents are facing child endangerment charges.
ack154 6:48PM (1/09/2009)
It's days like this that I'm happy that Jack Thompson has been disbarred.
At least they're pointing blame where it belongs... the parents.
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Mike P. 6:54PM (1/09/2009)
Amen.
It's scary to see how some of my friends see driving as a right and a sort of "game". And it's a striking contrast to other friends who, while yes, inexperienced (which is remedied by experience), understand the responsibility that comes with getting behind the wheel.
Noah 6:58PM (1/09/2009)
That just goes to show you. Violent video games like Monster Truck Jam promote illegal behavior in children.
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NT 7:08PM (1/09/2009)
In response to MachinaDC5, I'd be proud (and angry) too. But then, it's GTA man. Which means that by 13 he's gonna have a 5-star wanted experience.
Send him off to F1 school though. That's the next Mario Andretti.
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esteva03 7:11PM (1/09/2009)
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sparkster 7:36PM (1/09/2009)
He'll have a great story when he's racing in Nascar in about 12 yrs.
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rls 7:38PM (1/09/2009)
According to the local news the kid wanted to get to school because he was hungry and the only way he was going to get breakfast was the school program. Apparently his lazy-assed parents didn't want to get their asses out of bed to feed the kid!
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Mike-261 7:48PM (1/09/2009)
If that kid had played Forza, he would have easily made it. He would have pulled the E-brake into the Parallel parking spot, and on that bridge, he would have topped it out. I'm sure he would have apexed the turns properly as well. He hit the pole sideways, so I'm sure he was into it. He got a Front wheel drive car to Oversteer, The kid's got skill.
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sashazur 8:48PM (1/09/2009)
There must be more to the story than just "kid grabbed car keys when parents weren't looking and took car". I imagine most people with kids don't consider the car keys a lethal weapon and though they may not leave them lying around, they don't put them under lock and key either.
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