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At least he used his turn signal

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. - Eager to get his driver's license, a 7-year-old boy put on his seat belt and remembered to use his turn signal as he took his parents' pickup out for a spin, leading police on a slow pursuit around town.

Officers initially thought they were chasing a drunken driver Monday night.

"He was weaving and all over the road. He couldn't stay in his lane," Officer Josh Laverette said.

Instead, when the truck stopped in front of a home after the 7-mile escapade, they found a second-grader, barely 4 feet tall, behind the wheel. The house belonged to his parents.

"He was so short he had to sit up close to the steering wheel," Laverette said. "Whenever he would brake, he would pick himself up with his left foot and stomp on the brake with his right."

The pickup had swerved through traffic and busy intersections, nearly hitting one car at a traffic light and barely missing at least five oncoming cars, Laverette said.

When he finally stopped and authorities talked to him, "He said the reason he took the vehicle was because he wanted to get his license," Laverette said.

Nine years too early for the license test, the boy faces charges of driving without a license and eluding police. He is scheduled to have a hearing this week in juvenile court.

Susan Daniel described the scene in the streets of Shelbyville, a town of about 14,000 residents 50 miles east of Nashville: "There were like probably five city cars and three county cars and a state trooper" all chasing the pickup.

"It blew my mind because we actually watched him put on his turn signal and turn, and we could see when he went past that he had seat belts on," Daniel said. "Then to come find out it was a child, I was really shocked."

[Last modified January 12, 2006, 01:25:23]