Photo: abc13.com
The dad of the year award goes to a 42-year-old from Houston, Texas, who let his 12-year-old daughter drive his car in the parking lot of an apartment complex, while another 2-year-old child was strapped in the carseat in the back.
The worst part about all this is that, while the girl was practicing her driving skills, she hit and killed a pedestrian and his dog. ABC 13 identifies the victim as 47-year-old Enrique Vazquez. He and the dog died on the spot, as the girl applied too much pressure on the gas, slammed into them and then into a tree.
No one else in the car was injured, the same media outlet notes. Initially, when police arrived at the scene, the father, Tomas Mejia Tol, 42, tried to convince them that he had been at the wheel but surveillance video obtained from a nearby security camera failed to corroborate his story.
The Harris County District Attorney's Office charged Mejia with criminal negligent homicide and endangering a child. In addition to putting the girl’s life at risk, he also endangered the wellbeing of a younger child, as police say there was a 2-year-old in the backseat as well.
According to KHOU, the 12-year-old told responding officers that she was at the wheel at the time of the accident and that she was just “practicing.” Apparently, this was supposed to be a basic routine, as she tried to back the black Ford Explorer out of a parking spot.
In light of the tragedy, Sean Teare, chief of the Harris County District Attorney's Office Vehicular Crimes Division, highlights the dangers of letting minors at the wheel, especially in highly circulated areas, like the parking lot of an apartment complex.
“You can't allow a young child to drive in a populated place,” Teare says for KHOU. “If you're going to teach a young person how to drive, go to an empty parking lot. Go somewhere where you're not going to have the potential for taking someone's life. Every time you turn the wheel, or you turn the key on a car, you are strapping on a deadly weapon.”
No one else in the car was injured, the same media outlet notes. Initially, when police arrived at the scene, the father, Tomas Mejia Tol, 42, tried to convince them that he had been at the wheel but surveillance video obtained from a nearby security camera failed to corroborate his story.
The Harris County District Attorney's Office charged Mejia with criminal negligent homicide and endangering a child. In addition to putting the girl’s life at risk, he also endangered the wellbeing of a younger child, as police say there was a 2-year-old in the backseat as well.
According to KHOU, the 12-year-old told responding officers that she was at the wheel at the time of the accident and that she was just “practicing.” Apparently, this was supposed to be a basic routine, as she tried to back the black Ford Explorer out of a parking spot.
In light of the tragedy, Sean Teare, chief of the Harris County District Attorney's Office Vehicular Crimes Division, highlights the dangers of letting minors at the wheel, especially in highly circulated areas, like the parking lot of an apartment complex.
“You can't allow a young child to drive in a populated place,” Teare says for KHOU. “If you're going to teach a young person how to drive, go to an empty parking lot. Go somewhere where you're not going to have the potential for taking someone's life. Every time you turn the wheel, or you turn the key on a car, you are strapping on a deadly weapon.”
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