youngchinesedriverfeat

Learning to drive a car is one of the best perks of being a teenager. With the majority of legal driving age limits around the world set somewhere between 16 and 18 years of age, even places like Alberta, Canada, and South Dakota, U.S.A., where licenses are issued to 14-year-old teenagers with adult supervision, have been criticized for starting kids out behind the wheel a little too early.

But just how soon is too soon? That’s the question floating around Chinese social media at the moment as two Chinese parents are facing major backlash for allowing their daughter, who only appears to be 4-5 years old, to drive their family car. (Warning: video auto-plays, so check your speakers now.)

Earlier this month a video appeared on Weibo, a Chinese microblogging site akin to Twitter, showing a kindergarten-age girl driving her parents’ car, with mom filming from the passenger seat and dad giving directions from the back.

Although it’s still unknown where exactly in China the following incident takes place, the small girl appears to be driving on a three- or four-lane road, and since its recent upload on the social site, many users have rushed to brand the spectacle an outrageous display of irresponsible parenting.

For better or worse, with the young girl’s calm demeanor and her ability to follow her father’s instructions when passing another car, we can only assume this probably wasn’t her first drive. She doesn’t appear to show a hint of nervousness as she tries to chat with her parents about the flowers blooming on the side of the road.

But perhaps the most surprising part of the video is that the publishing timestamp puts it as being recorded almost four years ago, leading the country’s Ministry of Public Security to take a look into situation and the account it was uploaded to.

Other media outlets, such as the People’s Daily, have published scathing articles reprimanding the girl’s parents (wherever they are) on the possible harm they could have caused to not only themselves, but other drivers as well, and are calling for their arrest.

We imagine once found, the parents will face similar or worse charges than the pet owner who let his pooch take to the streets on a motorbike.

Still, even more shocking is that this is hardly the only instance of parents letting their young children drive too soon. A quick glance at YouTube shows a number of other videos featuring underage children at the wheel. We can’t even imagine what could possibly prompt mothers and fathers to allow such a dangerous behavior; unless you’re training your child to become a future Gundam operator, we think it’s best to keep young children in the child seat for a little longer, and just let kids be kids.

Source: Sankei News
Top image: Hamari Web UK/@linwen778