By Tony Ng

Remember the times when your Dad still allowed you to sit on his lap and pretend to drive his car?

You'll grip the gigantic steering wheel with your small chubby hands, marvelling at how the car was able to move, albeit at a rolling speed. Well those innocent days seem to be pretty much over.

This child [above] was spotted sitting on her father's lap and holding onto the steering wheel of the vehicle. One reader subsequently snapped a picture of the incident and sent it to the website Stomp.

The reader said he had "no idea who was controlling the van".

The reader also added that both parent and child were not wearing safety belts and that put the child's life at risk.

We do doubt the reader's former observation - who else could have legs long enough to reach the accelerator and brake pedals - but we'll agree with the latter.

It's good to remember the old days where we were all on the roads without seatbelts, airbags. and a host of other safety features. We seem to be less complacent drivers without them.

It's good to bond with our kids and have fun with them too, given the fact that nowadays parents may spend less playtime with their kids. Which is no wonder, given the digital distractions of the Internet and the television.

I cannot recall any car accidents in recent years arising from such "driving". But let's not risk their lives in the process.

At the very least, if you want to drive your kid around, do it at some ulu area where there is no traffic - and no one to snap pictures of you.

tonyng@sph.com.sg

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