14-year-old driver’s parents may face charges

A 14-year-old Nicosia boy was caught driving a car on Boxing Day after he collided with a parked vehicle, police said yesterday.

At around 8.15pm, the minor was driving a car on Metochiou Street in Archangelos, when under circumstances still being investigated he crashed into a 52-year-old man’s parked car. No one was hurt in the accident, but both were badly damaged.

Police said the minor was not arrested, and if the case goes to court, it is the 14-year-old’s parent or guardian who will be held responsible.

“Parents can no longer use the excuse that their child stole their car from them,” a police spokesman told the Sunday Mail. “The law has now been changed and states that it is the guardian’s responsibility to keep his or her car keys in a place where a minor does not have access to them. Therefore it is the adult who will go to court and face charges.”

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