13-year-old caught after 500-km joyride

A 13-year-old boy who drove a taxi from Baoding, Hebei province, and planned to travel to northeastern China was caught by the police in Langfang, who called his parents and urged them to strengthen their supervision of the boy, according to a report by Jiupai News, a news portal in Hubei province.

The boy, surnamed Pan, had taken the key to the taxi, which belonged to his father, at around midnight on Oct 23 after an argument, and invited two friends for an adventure, the report said. The friends are also teenagers.

They initially drove the taxi around Baoding and then decided to go to Liaoning province, but they were caught by traffic police when they passed a checkpoint on an expressway in Langfang. The officers believed the driver and passengers were too young to be driving, and then confirmed that they were teenagers.

By the time they were stopped, Pan had been driving continuously for 10 hours, covering a distance of about 500 kilometers.

Police also learned that Pan's father was a taxi driver, and Pan often observed his father driving from the passenger seat, gradually learning how to operate the vehicle.

Although his father strictly prohibited him from driving any motor vehicles, Pan had previously secretly driven his father's taxi on outings, according to the report.

The police told the parents to monitor the boy more closely and prevent him from engaging in risky activities.