On the evening of January 2nd, while conducting breathalyzer tests on motorists as part of the traditional BOB campaign meant to combat drunk driving in Belgium, police in the commune of Duffel noticed something very peculiar. A car that was approaching their checkpoint seemed to do so at a snail’s pace, finally stopping dozens of meters before reaching them.
As they approached the vehicle, traffic police officers immediately noticed that the person in the driver’s seat seemed unusually short and young. Their initial impressions were confirmed when they reached the driver’s window. It was a young boy, no more than 12 years old. Next to the child was his father, who nonchalantly admitted that he had asked the boy to drive home because he had had too much to drink.
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“I had drunk too much and so I entrusted the car to my son to drive home,” the boy’s father told police.
Sitting in the backseat of the car were the boy’s mother and two young siblings, all of whom seemed ok with the situation. Interestingly, the mother had a valid driver’s license herself, but somehow thought it was a good idea to let her pre-teen son drive the whole family home at night.
“While no accidents were reported, law enforcement was nonetheless stunned by the situation. They fined the 12-year-old for driving without a license, and his father for entrusting the car to someone not fit to drive it. But the matter didn’t end there.
A third report was filed for a “concerning educational situation,” a rarely seen charge in traffic-related offences and one that opens the door to a broader assessment of the family environment. Now, both father and son will have to appear before a police court in Mechelen, Belgium.
And, in case you’re wondering how the family got home that night, the boy’s mother took his place behind the wheel and did what she was supposed to do in the first place.
