What have we learned here today? . . .


Teen Crashes Car After Hearing Doll Cry
Dec 1, 6:03 AM (ET)

PLEASANTON, Calif. (AP) - The perils of parenting apparently can be discovered through a classroom project.
A startled 17-year-old girl swerved her car into a freeway guardrail and slammed into a pickup truck after the realistic-sounding baby doll in her care suddenly began to cry.
The teenager had just picked up the doll as part of a school project on responsible parenting minutes before the accident occurred Tuesday on I-580, said Steve Creel, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.
The educational doll cries and wets itself and has a recording device that monitors how long it takes the doll's "parent" to respond to its crying.
The girl, whose named was not released because of her age, was driving around 65 miles per hour in a Mini Cooper when the fake baby sprang to tears, causing her to crash into the guardrail and swerve back onto the freeway where she hit a Ford F-350 pickup truck.
"When officers arrived, she was still caring for the baby," Creel said.
No one was seriously injured in the crash, but the CHP will pursue charges because the girl was driving without a license, he said.


Didn't get that leather wet I hope. CCY

 

Ok that's just... weird.

 

Yikes!

When I read the title of the post, I remembered my personal "peril of parenting" event from about 8 years ago....

I was outside the garage working on some home improvement project - my 2 year old son was wandering around playing with toys in the garage - I was aware of where he was, but was temporarily oblivious to exactly what he was doing. We kept all the "dangerous" stuff well out of reach, so I wasn't particularly worried about him getting into trouble. And he couldn't get past me without me seeing him. And he was within earshot. So no worries, right?

Sooooooo...... maybe 5 minutes after the last time I checked up on him, I step back into the garage to see what he's up to. He's working away like Daddy's Little Helper with a sanding block - on the front fender of my brand spankin' new Sebring convertible.... AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!
Then I realize he's already "finished" with the drivers door...... AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!! Deep breaths. Take some deep breaths. It's only a car, it's only a car, it's only a car....:impatient

I cleaned those spots up a little bit, but intentionally never buffed them out all the way, just to remind me for the next 8 years what happened....

 

Now that is a classic

 

BlimeyCabrio - Ouch !

 

Wow...

Art

 

Reminds me of when my daughter was playing with driveway chalk next to our then-brandy-new Nissan Quest... left the scratches on the driver's door as "Art" for the 10 years we ran that car; it was still going strong (and scratched) at 186k when we sold it, at a stoplight, no less...

 

Waste of a car.

 

i dont let my 2yr old in the garage.

I said "no kids allowed!!!"

...now even i can't go there. hahaha

 

And I'm betting the "baby" wasn't properly secured in a NHTSA approved car seat either .
Annette

 

I realize this won't be any consolation but a good friend of mine was getting ready to return his leased Ford Taurus (yeah a Taurus) to the dealer and his youngest son volunteered to wash and wax the car. His son was 9 at the time and my buddy accepted the offer - what could possibly go wrong.

Apparently there were a few spots on the hood and roof from a nearby black olive tree. The son, wanting to do a good job for his Dad, decided dishwashing soap wasn't going to do much so he proceeded to use Brillo pads on the tough areas. Suffice to say the spots were gone - and so was my friend's damage deposit on the lease.

 

Driving without a license? Genius.

 

How is it that a 17 year old:
a) doesn't have a license
AND
b) has the keys to a new(er) car
??:impatient

 

Dumb and Dumber

 

Is California one of the states that has adopted the "graduated" driver's license? I think some states are adopting new requirements...permit until age 18 or something like that?

 

No, we don't have any such laws. In order for her to be driving with a permit, she would have needed a licensed adult (>18) in the car with her.