The 12 year-old boy, who drove a pickup truck and hit another vehicle, was accompanied by his father, as he appears at the CT-TODA office. | CT-TODA photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – A 12 year-old boy, who was driving his father’s pickup truck, figured in an accident late on Wednesday afternoon, July 12, 2023.
The boy was lucky to have been unharmed, according to Jonathan Tumulak, head of the City of Talisay – Traffic Operations and Development Authority (CT-TODA).
Even the three passengers of the Suzuki hatchback – a man, pregnant woman, and young girl – that the boy hit were also unharmed and their vehicle only incurred minimal damage, Tumulak added.
Based on the initial investigation conducted by CT-TODA, the boy was traveling at the vicinity of Barangay Cansojong when he hit the hatchback that was travelling on the same lane. He came from their home in Barangay Dawis and was headed for Barangay Poblacion to run an errand.
The accident happened at about 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
According to Tumulak, the father (name withheld since the child was a minor) asked his son to buy water from a refilling station.
The father, he said, did not notice that the boy took their pickup truck.
Run an errand
Tumulak said it was not the first time that the father sent his son to run an errand. But in the past, the boy would bring a driver with him.
The boy’s father, Tumulak said, owns food selling and trucking businesses.
Tumulak said the father started to worry when the boy failed to return home a few minutes later. He went out to visit the different refilling stations in Barangay Poblacion to look for his son, but he never found him.
At about 6 p.m. the passengers of the Suzuki hatchback arrived in their home with the child. The victims decided to bring the child home as he was crying nonstop when brought to the CT-TODA office.
Both parties met at the CT-TODA office two hours later or at about 8 p.m. to discuss the accident and agree to settle after the father promised to shoulder the cost of having the damage on the victims’ vehicle fixed.
Traffic violation
Still, the father will have to fee the corresponding fine for the traffic violation that his son committed while the pickup truck will have to be impounded, Tumulak said.
Tumulak said they have also endorsed the boy’s case to the City Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) office for the appropriate intervention.
He said that the boy may have to undergo counseling to recover from the trauma and/or the psychological effects that the accident may have caused.
Never caught
When he appeared at the CT-TODA office Wednesday night, the father admitted that he had been teaching his son to drive for almost a year now because of his interest in cars.
The boy was the second of his three kids.
However, the father told Tumulak that he never allowed his son to drive on his own.
During their talk, the boy admitted that he has tried driving around the city several times. He was never caught because their truck had heavily tinted windows. | with CTU Intern Mary Godinez
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