[MX6]

I drove to Bhimashankar on saturday. There was an alto in front ambling around at 20 kmph bang in the middle of the road. I waited patiently for it to pull to one side so that I can over take it. I was shocked at what I saw while over taking. There was a kid, hardly 8 - 9 years old sitting on papa's lap and holding the steering all alone. I badly wanted to stop, pull this guy over and give him a loud verbal thrashing. But just stopped short and moved ahead. I spoke to my 10 month old daughter sitting behind in her car seat, much to the amusement of my family. I told her that she'll have to wait till she's 16 to get a learner's license. Till then, I won't let her touch the steering. well. My family doesn't realise that I really meant it!
Hope fellow BHPians also urge their little one's to wait till the reach legal age.
Have other members seen crappy things like this where parents pamper and spoil kids and give them freedom to flout road rules? Request members to share such things.

[sen2009]

Just the gramatical error- it's 18 and not 16, the legal age for driving in India.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by sen2009

Just the gramatical error- it's 18 and not 16, the legal age for driving in India.

Thanks for correcting the typo error. 16 for under 55 cc and 18 above.
but my 10 month old is already upset when she read your correction.

[finneyp]

Pal, you should have stopped & pulled that irresponsible father over & gave him some gyan on Road discipline!

[straightdrive]

Have seen a few idiots like this guy, and with kids as young as about 6 years!

The problem of kids at the controls is worse with bikes. I frequently see kids between 10 and 15 riding bikes on main roads, often with a pillion no older than them and sometimes with three on the bike.

[issigonis]

This incident doesn't surprise me at all.

The indulgence of parents, especially parents in India, is mind boggling.
Why do we have spoilt brats overspeeding and mowing down people (including homeless labourers sleeping on pavements), or drunk ones molesting girls on New Years' Eve or a Manu Sharma or the grandson of an admiral mowing down poor people in a BMW?

Because of parents who think that showering their children with gifts or indulging their every whim is a way of showing that they care.

In fact, caring beyond what is reasonable for one's children ( 'my child can do no wrong' or 'after he/she is my child, so he/she can get away with everything') is typically a symbol of a shallow, materialistic society where being rich and/or powerful is the only thing, good manners, civic sense, education and refinement be damned.

Don't we see all this with quite a few scions of politicos/bureaucrats/businessmen?

It will take Indians a few generations to be able to digest family wealth and evolve into mature, civic minded citizens.

Regards

[anjan_c2007]

The new Motor Vehicles Act amended in 1989 in fact calls for joint liability to be fixed upon the owner of any motor vehicle, who is negligent enough to allow his motorised motor vehicle to be driven by any person who does not have a valid driving licence.
The older M.V. Act of 1937 would only punish the driver and not the owner, maybe as most owners were British or high officials or influential people.
Coming back to the amendments in the 1989 Act, its nearly 20 years down the line and this has failed to deter such delinquent and negligent owners from allowing their motor vehicles to be driven by such juveniles.

This is a news clipping from August 2004
(Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety | Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety)
Washington, Several leading highway and auto safety groups sent a letter yesterday to G. Richard Wagoner, Chairman, General Motors Corporation (GM), protesting the widespread, primetime airing during the Olympic Games on network television of an advertisement for the company's 2005 Corvette.
"We write as highway safety professionals offended by General Motors' recent advertisement for the new Corvette ("A Boy's Dream") shown repeatedly during the Olympics this month," the attached letter said. "This ad is certainly among the most dangerous, anti-safety messages to be aired on national television in recent years."

Amusing piece of news is'nt it?
Here are two for viewing!

YouTube - Worst parents kids driving cars

YouTube - Kids Drive Cars

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by MX6

Thanks for correcting the typo error. 16 for under 55 cc and 18 above.
but my 10 month old is already upset when she read your correction.

off topic. if she can read at 10 months, she should be ready for driving at 16 .

something makes me think if the owner says he was not involved, it makes a case of unauthorized driving (read stealing).

obviously not in this case. the father should be smacked and made to write "I will never do this again" 100,000 times.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by finneyp

Pal, you should have stopped & pulled that irresponsible father over & gave him some gyan on Road discipline!

Yes Finneyp. I wanted to. But then a sudden moment of rational thinking made me move ahead. There were 3 big men and 2 women and a kid in that car. I'm in a forest area with my wife and 10 month old. What if those three big men show their local clout and pick up a bad altercation or get physical?
I'd have slapped that moron had I been alone. With my wife and baby, I'd rather not take any risk.
Amit_mechengg's post taught me not to stop at unknown areas and speak to unknown people irrespective of how decent they look. Pasting the link to that post for member's recollection
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...en-panvel.html

I drove to Kolhapur yesterday and came back. Left pune at 5 pm, had a quick darshan and got back at 2:30 am. I saw many folks trying to hitch a lift on the highway. Pathetic rains as well. Never seen such rains in India till now. I blurted out the word sorry as I just ignored their request and continued by 90kmph on the highway.

[pranavt]

Originally Posted by issigonis

Why do we have spoilt brats overspeeding and mowing down people (including homeless labourers sleeping on pavements), or drunk ones molesting girls on New Years' Eve or a Manu Sharma or the grandson of an admiral mowing down poor people in a BMW?

Not to argue with any other point of yours, but I do not agree that killing these homeless people is entirely or even majorly the fault of the driver. I've driven through places after midnight where people sleep right at the edge of the cement/tarmac road. Even a simple loss of control, which can be caused by a third party altogether (animals included), can kill multiple people, including young kids and/or toddlers.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by pranavt

Not to argue with any other point of yours, but I do not agree that killing these homeless people is entirely or even majorly the fault of the driver. I've driven through places after midnight where people sleep right at the edge of the cement/tarmac road. Even a simple loss of control, which can be caused by a third party altogether (animals included), can kill multiple people, including young kids and/or toddlers.

That's all the more reason we need to be more careful and drive defensive.
With great BHP comes great responsibility - "Spyder"man

[sriswe]

A boy studying 5th class is driving ( sitting in drivers lap) Tata Safari in our colony and her grand father is pround enough to say that the boy also drove in ghat roads (sitting in his fathers lap) for around 30 KMs. I also saw that the boy constantly asking the driver to give him the complete control. I urged him not to entertain such things, but he says the boy wont listen whatever they say. Parents shoud not entertain such things and treat them seriously.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

off topic. if she can read at 10 months, she should be ready for driving at 16 .

lol. Ofcourse she can't read. I'm a crazy dad who thinks his daughter follows and understands things. I show her the posts in Team-BHP. she tries banging the keyboard and if she likes something on the screen, she tries licking it. I've been talking to her as though she's an adult right from the moment she was born! Many of my friends and relatives think I'm a nut. Well, my signature sums it up.

[PatchyBoy]

Sigh. Very common and irresponsible behaviour. Wonder when people will learn.

You were right in not trying to stop and give some gyan. I would not bother, even if I had three big men in my car. Such people never learn.

Rajan

[wildsdi5530]

People letting their kids drive on the highways is really bad. But one section seems missing.
In the mornings or after school hours, when mom asks the kid to run to the local shop for something, the kids go by two-wheelers. I often see little girls in school uniforms and twin braids on Kines and TVS 50s.
And god forbid if one of them slips and falls in front of your vehicle. The whole layout will be there on the street belting you and not listening to your innocence.