A 13-YEAR-old girl was picked up in Limassol during the early hours of yesterday after police caught her at the wheel of a car, speeding through a red light with no headlights on.
The child was caught at around 1am when a patrol car on Ellados Street spotted a vehicle being driven “dangerously, recklessly and with no headlights on”, police said.
Limassol police chief Tasos Economides said the police vehicle attempted to cut the car off but that the driver sped up, driving through a red light at the Pendadromos crossing in the process.
Police gave chase, finally managing to cut the vehicle off on Makarios Avenue in the Naafi area.
“A 13-year-old old was driving without a licence, without insurance, without road tax for the first six months of 2007, and without the permission of the vehicle’s owner,” a police press bulletin said.
The minor was taken to Limassol’s minor crimes unit where she was charged in writing and released. The girl’s father was charged and released for failing to take proper care of his car.
Traffic Police Chief Doros Achilleos told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that parents were obliged to take whatever measures necessary to ensure their underage offspring did not get their hands on their cars.
“The responsibility lies with the owner of the car,” he said.
That responsibility included hiding the keys if necessary, he added.
“In this case as I’ve understood, the car owner is the girl’s father. He will therefore go to court for failing to protect his car from being driven by his underage daughter.”
Achilleos said the offence carried a sentence of up to two years imprisonment and/or £1,500 fine.
Had the girl been over 14 she would have been held criminally negligent, he added.
“She would then have been charged with all the offences she committed, including driving without a driver’s licence, without insurance and without road tax,” he said.
The traffic chief said a child driving on the island’s roads not only endangered her life, but those of others.
“It’s extremely dangerous, first of all for the 13 year old because she can’t drive, and second for other people on the roads. But the responsibility lies with the parents who I’m sure at some stage gave the car and taught her to drive. I don’t believe this is the first time she took the car,” Achilleos said.
