A man was charged after Australian police allegedly caught a nine-year-old driving a car after 1am on a major highway in New South Wales.
The police said that a seatbelt detection camera captured the car travelling on the Great Western Highway near Mount Lambie at around 1.35am local time on 7 March with an “unrestrained child” sitting on the man's lap.
The police claimed the man, experiencing “significant fatigue”, was “operating the pedals” while the minor was steering.
Following inquiries, police officers visited the home of the 45-year-old man in Lightning Ridge on 11 March. They later issued a court attendance notice and charged him with four counts of driving recklessly, negligent driving, driving without proper control of the vehicle, and driving with one passenger seatbelt or restraint not properly fastened.
“Police will allege the man was under significant fatigue, operating the pedals, while a nine-year-old boy was steering the vehicle at the time of the incident," the NSW police said in a statement.
The man was scheduled to appear at the Walgett Local Court on 28 April.
Last year, a 15-year-old boy was sentenced to more than five years in jail after crashing a stolen car into a ute in Canberra, killing two passengers.
Earlier in 2017, police stopped a 12-year-old boy after he attempted to drive across Australia alone and travelled about 1,300km.
