12-year-old kid arrested while driving on 4000-kilometre road trip

Australian police arrested a 12-year-old kid who was driving from Kendal NSW to Perth, making it an almost 4,000-kilometre journey across the continent.

“Broken Hill Highway Patrol stopped a motor vehicle on the Barrier Highway due to defects which made the vehicle hazardous (bumper dragging across the ground),” NSW Police said in its statement.

The unnamed boy was asked to pull over at 11 AM, completing more than 1,000 kilometres of his trip, following which he was transferred to the local police station.

 

 

The boy’s parents have successfully picked him up and are still on the way back to Kendall; they’re set to be in town by afternoon today, BuzzFeed reported.

As per detective inspector Kim Fehon, the pre-teen had “taken the family car. […] His parents reported him missing immediately after he left home, so they were looking for him,” the publication added.

In addition, Vamshi Reddy – the manager of a petrol pump on the boy’s journey – commented that the underage driver had refuelled the car with fuel worth $19, but left without paying, an Australian media outlet said.

“When I saw him, he looked like a nice person who was maybe 19 or 20,” explained Reddy, adding that “despite being 12 years old he is about six foot tall”, which surprised him.

The offender will probably face punishment under the country's Young Offenders Act.