It's An Oddball World: Infant Driver

It's An Oddball World: Infant Driver

It's only February, but I think we may be looking at the 2005 Oddball Story of the Year Award here. Just listen to this...

got his video games taken away as a punishment. So, in the middle of the night, he put on a coat, got in the car, and drove to the video store. It was closed, so he drove home. Oh, yeah, the kid's four years old.

That's right, four years old! Some police noticed a slow-moving car coasting erratically, weaving around snowbanks and whatnot. They were afraid it was a drunk. The car wouldn't stop, so they put a car on each side of it and finally realized that the driver was only four years old.

Now, let's fill in some details to explain how this could possibly happen. The mother had let the kid steer before, and he knew how to work the gear stuff. He had tried to drive the car before but his mom stopped him. He couldn't reach the pedal and steer at the same time, of course, but he apparently pressed the gas pedal and then just coasted the rest of the way. Now it's at least somewhat believable.

This is amazing! A four-year-old who knows how to drive a car! To what other regions does this kid's remarkable skills of observation and learning reach? Another thing I'd like to know is, how do they know he actually went to the video store and was coming back? Maybe the police watched the car for that long. But if he really did all that, that's pretty amazing for a four-year-old---on top of being able to start the car---to know how to get to the video store! Even if the details are exaggerated or not entirely true, though, this is still an incredible story!

I don't really have any deep comments about this---I'm just rather overwhelmed at the capacity of this little guy! I wouldn't be surprised if he could jump two-and-a-half feet, either.

Edmond the Hun