A boy, 9, in India is driving a Ferrari while my son, 17, confused R for D
In India, a dad celebrated his son's 9th birthday by letting the boy drive the family's Ferrari. A viral video of the drive led Indian authorities to arrest the dad. Still, the nine-year-old hurt no one. That's more than my teenaged driver-in-training could say.
As a birthday surprise to his son, age 9, Dad Mohammed Nisham of India handed over the keys to his shiny, red Ferarri F430, put another child in the passenger seat, and sent them off on a fast and furious joyride. The YouTube video went viral, dad was charged by local law enforcement, and all some of us can do is marvel at a parent who can hand over the keys to a child while our own teens have to pry them from our death grip.
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Lisa Suhay, who has four sons at home in Norfolk, Va., is a children’s book author and founder of the Norfolk (Va.) Initiative for Chess Excellence (NICE) , a nonprofit organization serving at-risk youth via mentoring and teaching the game of chess for critical thinking and life strategies.
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To be clear, this is not a case of a child on a farm driving an old pickup across the barren plain. This is a suburban street where, in the video, we can see another car travel down the road in the Ferarri’s wake. In defense of the child’s skills, The Times of India reports this isn’t the unnamed boy’s first time behind the wheel.
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“The boy is reported to have driven some of the family’s other vehicles including a Lamborghini and Bentley,” according to the boy’s mother, who also is alleged to have told The Times of India that she was proud of her son’s driving skill and was hoping to encourage him.
I’m not sure which is harder to get my mind around, the kid at the wheel while Mom cheers and takes pictures, or the laundry list of Gone in 60-Seconds-worthy automobiles this child has driven.
My son Quin, age 9, watched this video with me before he went to school today and said, “That’s crazy! Letting a nine-year-old like me drive? He should at least had a 12-year-old behind the wheel. That’s crazy!”
Last week Quin finally mastered riding a bike and is now tearing up the neighborhood where college students often careen around corners at high speeds. I’m afraid to let my nine-year-old out on his bike, so putting him in control of anything Nicholas Cage would steal in a film or Lucas Black would hop into for the next incarnation of "Tokyo Drift" is out of the question.
Back to the fast track of our India 500, police eventually became aware of the video and have since charged Mr. Nisham for encouraging underage driving and for allowing an unlicensed child to drive a vehicle, according to the Times Of India.
Nisham allegedly let his son to drive the car as a surprise on his ninth birthday, after the boy had pleaded for months for permission. There is a time to listen to your children’s aspirations and a time to tell them, “I want a seal that barks my name and that’s not happening either.”
For Nisham, I believe, this was one of those times when he should have picked the seal over the Ferarri.
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