Driving 101

Teen Accused of Taking Bus, Charging Fares

FERN PARK, Fla. - A 15-year-old boy was arrested when deputies stopped him driving a stolen bus along a public transit route, picking up passengers and collecting fares, authorities said Sunday.

Ritchie Calvin Davis took the bus Saturday from the Central Florida Fairgrounds in Orlando, where it was parked awaiting sale at an auction, a Seminole County sheriff's report said. The bus belongs to the Central Florida Transportation Agency, which runs LYNX public transit services in the Orlando area.

"I drove that bus better than most of the LYNX drivers could," the teen told a deputy after his arrest. "There isn't a scratch on it. I know how to start it, drive it, lower it, raise it."

Passengers and deputies noted Davis drove the bus at normal speeds and made all the appropriate stops on the route. One passenger, suspicious of the youthful looks of the driver, called 911.

There were two passengers on the bus when deputies stopped it in Fern Park, a suburb about 12 miles north of the fairgrounds where the bus was stolen. Authorities believe Davis picked up a total of three passengers and collected only a few dollars on his Saturday morning drive.

The sheriff's report noted that Davis, who is too young to legally drive, has a dummy license number because he had previously been charged for a similar bus theft. In January, he took a tour bus and drove passengers around without incident, authorities told the Orlando Sentinel. He was still serving probation for that incident, the paper reported.

The teen was charged with grand theft auto and driving without a license. A court hearing was scheduled Tuesday to determine if he will be charged as an adult or a juvenile.

OK follow me on this one:

Now here's a case where I hope the Fern Park District Attorney reads my blog.

First, if there is a trial, he should be tried as a juvenile.

The District Attorney should skip a trial and offer a plea in this case.

This kid did not drive the bus for the money collected as fares as most people have tokens. He did the same with a tour bus, no money there.

This is a no brainer. He loves buses, and driving them is his passion. Same as a car is to me.

Mr. District Attorney, this is what I propose:

Offer probation with the following stipulations.

1. He has to attend school, get good grades, and graduate from high school.

2. On weekends he has to clean and wash buses and bus stops.

3. When he is old enough and if he passes his test, he will be hired as a bus driver.

My bet is this kid would become the best driver in the public transit system.








To his credit, 7-year-old driver appeared sober

Police: Dad was too drunk to drive so he got son to take wheel, learn on job

RENO, Nev. - A Reno police officer who saw a sport utility vehicle weaving in a travel lane, driving slowly and stopping for no reason wasn't prepared for what he found when he pulled the vehicle over.

The driver was 7 years old and, according to the police report, the dad was in the passenger seat, drunk.

The officer says 37-year-old Alfredo Martinez said he was teaching the boy how to drive because he was too drunk to do so.

The stop occurred on a ramp to busy U.S. 395. Martinez was booked on one felony count of child endangerment and is being held under $3,500 bail.

My kids live and drive in Reno. This is scary!!

I have reported in my previous posts that kids learn to drive at a lot younger age but I doubt their dad was teaching the kids how to drive while he was too drunk to drive!!!

Had the kid been 10 he would have been smart enough to do what the kid in my next story did!








Boy refuses to ride with drinking parents

MONACA, Pa., -- A Pennsylvania couple have been charged with drunken driving after their 10-year-old son refused to ride with them, fearing for his safety, police said.

Kenneth Sutton, 41, and his wife, Paula, 40, of Monaca, Pa., were charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances and with child endangerment, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

The case caught police attention after a motorist saw the couple in their two vehicles stopped on a highway and their son leaving the scene.

The motorist called police, who picked up the boy running along the highway.

The unidentified boy told police his father had been drinking and was trying to light a pipe containing marijuana when he crashed into a guard rail, police said.

The boy's mother, who had been traveling in a car in front of them, tried to get the boy to ride with her, but he refused because she too had been drinking, police said.

Dad is 41 Mom is 40 and they are both drinking and driving and in two separate cars no less!!!!!!

The Dad was trying to light a pipe containing marijuana when he crashed into a guard rail - nice example!!

These two qualify for parents of the year!! At least a 10-year-old was smarter than the adults!!








Stick shift foils female car-jacker

SYDNEY, -- Police arrested an alleged female car-jacker in Australia when she couldn't get her victim's auto into gear because it had a stick shift.

The 20-year-old would-be thief allegedly dragged a 49-year-old woman driver from her car at an intersection in suburban Sydney, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. But the car-jacker found herself behind the wheel of a manual vehicle, which she didn't know how to drive, police said.

When she tried to run away, two men who had witnessed the incident seized her until police arrived. The driver was not hurt.

Australia - they are stupid there too.

That is a stupid as stealing a bicycle and not knowing how to ride one, a vegetarian stealing a steak, diving off a high dive and not knowing how to swim, stealing roller skates and not knowing how to skate.

I could go on and on, but you get the picture!!








Driving Test Comes to Crashing Halt

PORTAGE, Ind. - A young woman's goal of getting her driver's license crashed this week - right into the license branch. The 20-year-old woman was pulling into a parking spot outside the license branch when she hit the accelerator instead of the brake.

The car jumped a small curb and went into the building about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, tearing out a large glass window and damaging a door and low brick wall.

Neither the driver nor the examiner, who weren't identified, were injured. Bucy said a person in the building sustained a hip injury and was examined by emergency medical personnel but declined to be taken to the hospital.

The driver's car had damage to its hood and fenders.

Amazing Travel manager Susan Williams said she thought something had exploded next door.

"We jumped up and we went to the door and saw the car half in and half out of the license bureau," Williams said.

The building was closed for the remainder of the day, but reopened Wednesday. The young driver, meanwhile, failed the test.

"I think it's fair to say the customer did not meet the required criteria," said Greg Cook, a Bureau of Motor Vehicles spokesman

Ok Ok, how do you confuse the accelerator pedal with the brake pedal?

This woman must be blonde or doesn't know which side each pedal is from each other, let alone shape and size!!

I wonder what happens with insurance in a case like this?



Well, that's it for Saturday. Based on the number of readers that hit the site, you may be alone in reading this. I hope you enjoyed. Come back Sunday for all the news you can use!!