The footage of a child driving through rush hour traffic on a highway in Saudi Arabia has prompted a furious backlash on social media and fresh concerns about the growing phenomenon, according to the Gulf News.
The clip shows a boy, apparently less than 10 years old and struggling to see beyond the steering wheel, driving the car in the middle of a traffic jam on the Hamarain Highway that links the Red Sea city of Jeddah with Madina, Saudi site Sabq reported on Thursday.
In the footage taken from another vehicle, a foreigner was seen sitting next to the child driver.
Online users said they were shocked by the sight of the child driving, particularly that there was traffic congestion and advanced skills were needed to move safely.
They said that parents or those who allowed him to drive should be punished severely to help ensure the safety of all the drivers. They said there should be no tolerance towards anyone involved.
Traffic policemen should intensify their presence on highways, especially during rush hours, to prevent abuses and accidents, they said.
However, several users said they did not mind seeing the child driving, claiming that he was doing fine and that learning to drive at an early age was “a positive thing.” They insisted the child was totally focused on the road and “maybe drove much better than older people.”
Some users blamed the driver who took the footage, saying that he broke the law by using his mobile while driving and that “he should mind his own business.”
However, Om Ahmad, a user, criticised the association of child-driving with the “macho culture” concept.
“This goes well beyond the claim that the child is doing well as he is learning how to drive in the real world,” she said. “He may learn at an early age if that is part of the macho culture some people are mindlessly defending and promoting. However, he must not be allowed to learn how to drive on a highway putting his own life and those of other people at risk.”
By Habib Toumi
