Police in Utrecht reported that a four-year-old boy drove his mom's car by himself and crashed into two parked vehicles on Saturday. The boy then left the scene, still in his pajamas and his bare feet.
Concerned bystanders called the emergency service after spotting the boy walking down the street alone in the cold. Fortunately, the police said no one was hurt during the escapade, and they said they discovered a "new Max Verstappen," the current Dutch world champion Formula One driver.
Stolen from mom
According to the Guardian, bystanders spotted the boy in pajamas. He also walked barefoot in the city's Overvecht district early Saturday morning. Concerned bystanders called emergency services, giving the boy a medical check-up and a cuddly bear. As there was no immediate sign of any parents in the vicinity, concerned bystanders took the boy to the nearest police station.
The car was registered to the boy's mother, the police officers said. When the officers called his mom, they handed the phone to the young boy. The police said he mimicked driving and made gestures of turning a steering wheel.
The police then realized that the boy may have been the driver. The mom said she was coming over the soonest time possible. While waiting for the mom at the police station, the four-year-old was given some hot chocolate at the police station.
The police accompanied the mother and son to the crash site. When they asked the boy how the car worked, the child opened the vehicle with the key, put it on the ignition, and moved his foot to the clutch and gas pedals, the police said.
They concluded that the boy might have woken up early when his father left to go to work and decided to take his mom's car for a drive, Metro says.
The officers then advised the parents to hide their car keys to prevent it from happening again.
Driving to buy candy from a gas station
In 2019, a four-year-old boy named Sebastian in Blaine also drove his grandfather's car in Minnesota during a rush hour to buy candy from a nearby gas station. The little boy took the key from his great-grandfather's Hyundai Santa Fe, hopped in the driver's seat, and drove to Speedway gas station, 1.5 miles away from their home. The boy took a winding route through the neighborhood before getting into a bustling thoroughfare during rush hour traffic.
The cops went to the store after receiving reports that a child was driving erratically at around 15 miles per hour on a busy road before stopping in a gas station parking lot. The boy hit a couple of mailboxes and bumped into a tree. Fortunately, the little driver was unscathed, and no one was hurt in the incident.
When asked why he stole his grandfather's car, he said he just wanted some Reese's candy. The family admitted they were in panic and were anxious when they learned about what had happened.
But then the incident taught the family to keep a closer eye on the minor driver and keep their car keys out of Sebastian's reach, Thrillist.com reports.
