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Coffee Shop Talk - 'Man' behind wheel is just 14</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">BadNews0 <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">4:52 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 1) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>15313.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>He has himself filmed driving sports car and posts video online. But...
'Man' behind wheel is just 14
By Liew Hanqing
December 06, 2008 Print Ready Email Article
HE took a spin in a flashy sports car and decided to have himself filmed doing it.
The 14-year-old, a self-professed fan of Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen, then uploaded the video to his YouTube account, with the title 'Underage Driving - Audi R8 (E-gear)'.
This underage driver is fortunate. His 'public' joyride merely became a talking point online, unlike another underage driver.
In September, Yeo Ken How, 16, died while taking a joyride in his older brother's car.
He had lost control of the car and slammed into a tree, killing him instantly.
In the latest incident, the teen tagged the video with the keywords '13-year-old, Singapore driver' so netizens would be able to search for the clip on the video-sharing site.
The video clip, as well as the account used to post it, has since been removed.
Months after he first uploaded the video, the boy's joyride video caused an online uproar after a netizen circulated the clip on a popular online forum.
In the 27-second clip, the boy appears to be navigating the 420bhp Audi R8, which can go from 0 to 100kmh in 4.4sec, around a carpark at night.
The camera angle changes throughout the clip, suggesting it may have been filmed by somebody sitting in the front passenger's seat.
Since a link to the video was posted on an online forum on Wednesday, netizens have lashed out at his act, which they have described as irresponsible.
One forum member wrote: 'This is so wrong. What are the parents or adults thinking?'
Another added: 'Seems like he is begging to be caught... most probably hao lian (show off in Hokkien) that he can drive, and decided to post this 'evidence'.'
Yet another netizen speculated that the boy was 'a speedster... out to impress'.
Others wrote that there was a need for underage drivers to be taught a lesson, to minimise the likelihood of their causing accidents in the future.
When contacted, the boy's father said that he was shocked to learn about the video. He had no idea his son had taken the car out for a drive.
Called home
After being told by the media about the incident, the father, who was at work, called the boy at home to find out what happened.
'He knows he is in big trouble. He was tearful on the phone when I spoke to him,' he said.
He added that there was 'no doubt' that his son would be severely punished. 'We will deal with him very firmly. He is not going to go unpunished. He knows what he did is very wrong,' he said.
He explained that his son had learnt to drive on go-kart circuits in Malaysia and Thailand.
'He is very passionate about cars, but he knows that driving a car at his age is out of the question,' said the father.
On his Friendster profile, the boy listed 'cars and bikes' under his list of interests. He also uploaded pictures of himself posing with several expensive sports cars.
In a picture on his Facebook profile, the boy is seen sitting in the driver's seat of a blue Bentley.
The boy's father said his son had got hold of the keys to the sports car because they were placed in a cabinet that everyone in the family had access to.
'We never imagined that he would take the keys and drive the car,' he said.
He added that he had not seen the video but understood from his son that the car had only been driven around the carpark of his family's condominium.
He said: 'The car was not driven for more than 200m. It was late and there was no one around. But I still told (my son) that it was a very stupid thing to do.'
Lawyers The New Paper spoke to said the boy may not have committed a criminal offence even though he had been driving without a licence because he did not drive the car on a public road.
Under the Road Traffic Act, it is illegal for a person below 18 to drive a motor vehicle on a road. In this case, 'road' is defined as one to which the public has access.
Anyone found guilty of driving without a licence can be fined up to $1,000 or jailed for up to three months for the first offence. Subsequent offenders can be fined up to $2,000 or jailed up to six months.
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'Man' behind wheel is just 14
By Liew Hanqing
December 06, 2008 Print Ready Email Article
HE took a spin in a flashy sports car and decided to have himself filmed doing it.
The 14-year-old, a self-professed fan of Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen, then uploaded the video to his YouTube account, with the title 'Underage Driving - Audi R8 (E-gear)'.
This underage driver is fortunate. His 'public' joyride merely became a talking point online, unlike another underage driver.
In September, Yeo Ken How, 16, died while taking a joyride in his older brother's car.
He had lost control of the car and slammed into a tree, killing him instantly.
In the latest incident, the teen tagged the video with the keywords '13-year-old, Singapore driver' so netizens would be able to search for the clip on the video-sharing site.
The video clip, as well as the account used to post it, has since been removed.
Months after he first uploaded the video, the boy's joyride video caused an online uproar after a netizen circulated the clip on a popular online forum.
In the 27-second clip, the boy appears to be navigating the 420bhp Audi R8, which can go from 0 to 100kmh in 4.4sec, around a carpark at night.
The camera angle changes throughout the clip, suggesting it may have been filmed by somebody sitting in the front passenger's seat.
Since a link to the video was posted on an online forum on Wednesday, netizens have lashed out at his act, which they have described as irresponsible.
One forum member wrote: 'This is so wrong. What are the parents or adults thinking?'
Another added: 'Seems like he is begging to be caught... most probably hao lian (show off in Hokkien) that he can drive, and decided to post this 'evidence'.'
Yet another netizen speculated that the boy was 'a speedster... out to impress'.
Others wrote that there was a need for underage drivers to be taught a lesson, to minimise the likelihood of their causing accidents in the future.
When contacted, the boy's father said that he was shocked to learn about the video. He had no idea his son had taken the car out for a drive.
Called home
After being told by the media about the incident, the father, who was at work, called the boy at home to find out what happened.
'He knows he is in big trouble. He was tearful on the phone when I spoke to him,' he said.
He added that there was 'no doubt' that his son would be severely punished. 'We will deal with him very firmly. He is not going to go unpunished. He knows what he did is very wrong,' he said.
He explained that his son had learnt to drive on go-kart circuits in Malaysia and Thailand.
'He is very passionate about cars, but he knows that driving a car at his age is out of the question,' said the father.
On his Friendster profile, the boy listed 'cars and bikes' under his list of interests. He also uploaded pictures of himself posing with several expensive sports cars.
In a picture on his Facebook profile, the boy is seen sitting in the driver's seat of a blue Bentley.
The boy's father said his son had got hold of the keys to the sports car because they were placed in a cabinet that everyone in the family had access to.
'We never imagined that he would take the keys and drive the car,' he said.
He added that he had not seen the video but understood from his son that the car had only been driven around the carpark of his family's condominium.
He said: 'The car was not driven for more than 200m. It was late and there was no one around. But I still told (my son) that it was a very stupid thing to do.'
Lawyers The New Paper spoke to said the boy may not have committed a criminal offence even though he had been driving without a licence because he did not drive the car on a public road.
Under the Road Traffic Act, it is illegal for a person below 18 to drive a motor vehicle on a road. In this case, 'road' is defined as one to which the public has access.
Anyone found guilty of driving without a licence can be fined up to $1,000 or jailed for up to three months for the first offence. Subsequent offenders can be fined up to $2,000 or jailed up to six months.
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