This is incredible. An American story via the newsfeeds reports that State Troopers in Louisiana responded to a call from a concerned motorist regarding a pick-up truck being driven erratically on the Interstate (motorway).
When they stopped it, they realised the driver was an 8-year old boy. His 4-year old sister was in the back seat, and his father – Billy Joe Madden – was drunk and asleep in the passenger seat.
The boy was driving from Hattiesburg (Mississippi) to Dallas (Texas). The distance is 490 miles, and would take 8½ hours. I’ll repeat that – 490 miles and 8½ hours!
Half of you wants to laugh at such a bizarre situation. However, the father was arrested on the following counts:
- child desertion
- parent allowing minor to drive
- open container (alcohol)
- no child restraint (two counts – the boy wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, and the younger girl had no restraint)
The children were handed over to the American social services until a family member could collect them.