Nine-year-old Steals Car, Cites Arcade Games

[Nathan Meunier]

Nine-year-old Steals Car, Cites Arcade Games

A young kid nabs an auto and goes for a joyride. How did he learn to drive? One guess.

Police in Japan apprehended a nine-year old boy this week after he drove off in the family car to visit his grandmother, according to an incident report published in the Mainichi Daily News [http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20081106p2a00m0na006000c.html]. It seems the impressionable lad perhaps may have spent a little too much unsupervised time at the local arcade.

Early Monday morning, a citizen called police when they noticed a car traveling down the road without anyone visibly behind the wheel. Police responded to the call and soon discovered the vehicle parked in the lot of a nearby convenience story with the young boy sitting in the driver's seat. Apparently, the kiddo stole his folks' car and set off to visit his grandma who lived nearby. He didn't make it, due to getting lost. Well, then there's the whole getting caught by the police thing.

"It's my first time driving, but I learned from watching dad and playing at the video arcade," the nine-year-old told police. His parents were advised to a closer watch on their car and the kid in the future.

The report doesn't specify what games the boy was playing at the arcade, but it's entirely conceivable getting behind a virtual racing wheel or two instilled a sense of driving knowledge in the youth. After a few rounds of Mario Kart, I'm feeling ready to burn some rubber myself.



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[ckeymel]

This story is 9 colors of fun! This is what happens when normal people get bad ideas from video games - they visit their grandmas! I know that's what I would have done.

 

[ThePlasmatizer]

He's definitely one of the few children who shouldn't be allowed to play videogames.

On a more serious note I think a car simulation would be a good way to teach people to drive.

 

[mokes310]

Hmm, where were his parents during all of this??? We can claim that games cause this, but in reality, the parents need to notice when their children are taking things just a little too seriously. OH MY GOD, PARENTS PARENTING??? CRAZY IDEA!!!

BTW...In Japan, the steering wheel is on the right side of the car...not to be an ass or anything...wait, I am an ass, so yes...

 

[bue519]

Hmm, where were his parents during all of this??? We can claim that games cause this, but in reality, the parents need to notice when their children are taking things just a little too seriously. OH MY GOD, PARENTS PARENTING??? CRAZY IDEA!!!

BTW...In Japan, the steering wheel is on the right side of the car...not to be an ass or anything...wait, I am an ass, so yes...

I see your point, what was a 9 year old doing unsupervised with the car keys? Well, atleast these parents aren't as bad as the ones that left their kid to play WOW.

 

[Quintin Stone]

"Where did you learn to do this?!"

"I learned it from you, okay! I learned it from watching you!"

 

[Ronmarru]

I think this might the first legitimate case of a kid learning something from a game. Not the desire to steal cars or kill people, but how to work the wheel and pedals. Good thing Jack Thompson's gone.

Edit:

"Where did you learn to do this?!"

"I learned it from you, okay! I learned it from watching you!"

I'm ashamed I didn't think of that first.

 

[Amnestic]

"Where did you learn to do this?!"

"I learned it from you, okay! I learned it from watching you!"

Thread over?

Hmm, where were his parents during all of this??? We can claim that games cause this, but in reality, the parents need to notice when their children are taking things just a little too seriously. OH MY GOD, PARENTS PARENTING??? CRAZY IDEA!!!

BTW...In Japan, the steering wheel is on the right side of the car...not to be an ass or anything...wait, I am an ass, so yes...

I see your point, what was a 9 year old doing unsupervised with the car keys? Well, atleast these parents aren't as bad as the ones that left their kid to play WOW.

Do you watch your kids 24/7 when they're in the house? Hypothetically if you don't have kids. No, you don't, that's what's known on the intertubes as "wrapping your little snowflake in bubble wrap". It'd be nigh-impossible for me to count the amount of times I had easy access to my parent's car keys when I was nine. It should be noted that not once did I go joyriding in my parent's car. Not only that, but the article states "Early Monday Morning." How early we don't know, it could have been before the parents were even awake and the kid had snuck out. Unless you live in a house where anything even remotely dangerous is kept under lock and key, I can't really see you having a point here.

Kid sounds like he needs to be tested. He may have just failed a judgement call and really wanted to see his grandmother(he is nine after all), he may be crazy. Note that he cites arcade games as a way he 'learned' how to drive, not as a reason for why he took the car.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

I'd say, going only from the report, that the kid has great problem-solving skills and is probably quite bright... just, as is true for every 9-year-old, not equipped with enough experience to see the likely consequences of the solutions he comes up with every time.

"Where did you learn to do this?!"

"I learned it from you, okay! I learned it from watching you!"

I'm ashamed I didn't think of that first.

Maybe I haven't had enough coffee, but I can't place that quote. Can you help me out with that one?

-- Steve

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

I'd say, going only from the report, that the kid has great problem-solving skills and is probably quite bright... just, as is true for every 9-year-old, not equipped with enough experience to see the likely consequences of the solutions he comes up with every time.

"Where did you learn to do this?!"

"I learned it from you, okay! I learned it from watching you!"

I'm ashamed I didn't think of that first.

Maybe I haven't had enough coffee, but I can't place that quote. Can you help me out with that one?

-- Steve

It's on an episode of Scrubs, though I'm sure it's been used a million times before and after.

Like it's already been said, the kid specifically gave video games as the reason he thought he could drive. This isn't the case of the media blowing something out of proportion. Which actually makes it a pretty fun story.

 

[ElephantGuts]

Well, I think it's nice that he thought to go see his grandma. What little kid goes driving for the first time and thinks he'll go to grandma's house? Sounds like a good kid to me, I don't think videogames really played a big part in this. What arcade game would teach someone to drive? He probably got it more from watching his parents. And for a 9 year old it's pretty good that he only got lost, and didn't smash into a building or something. He even pulled over when he got lost! You think this would have ended this way if it was an American kid?

 

[Cousin_IT]

To be honest, between watching someone drive a real car & using an arcade racer (which, as opposed to button bashers usually consist of wheel, pedals & gearshaft); theres not much left to know to get the thing moving, specially if his dads car was an automatic.

 

[ThePlasmatizer]

Well, I think it's nice that he thought to go see his grandma. What little kid goes driving for the first time and thinks he'll go to grandma's house? Sounds like a good kid to me, I don't think videogames really played a big part in this. What arcade game would teach someone to drive? He probably got it more from watching his parents. And for a 9 year old it's pretty good that he only got lost, and didn't smash into a building or something. He even pulled over when he got lost! You think this would have ended this way if it was an American kid?

I just had a mental image of a car smashing through the living room wall and a kid behind the wheel saying "Hi Grandma!"

 

[NeferX]

I guess its lucky he didnt go all GTA on us...

 

[HobbesMkii]

I think it is less about the parents not watching their child, and more about not watching their car keys. And it's not like kids who don't play video games can't drive (or jack cars). It happens all the time in large cities.

I think teaching a 9yo to drive ought to be considered an achievement. And he did it safely. They weren't reporting erratic or dangerous driving, just that there seemed to be no one behind the wheel. If he'd had a booster seat, he probably would've gotten all the way to grandma's and then she would've called the parents to collect him, all without a police report filed.

 

[Misaek]

I agree with Amnestic 1:you don't keep your eye on your kid all hours of the day and he could have snuck out and 2: video games didn't tell him to go out jack the car and drive off he said that he LEARNED to drive from video games.

 

[SunoffaBeach]

I once thought that I would make a good governor because I knew how to play Sim City.

Oh, how I miss those times...

 

[_Nocturnal]

But wait! Did they find the grandmother?
What if, by the time they caught the kid, he'd already beat her to death with a baseball bat?
It's videogames, after all - EVIL - they should've known better!