A Pennsylvania woman is facing charges after police said she let her 12-year-old son drive her car.
Police in Latrobe said 33-year-old Carrie Geyer of Seward, Pennsylvania, had a 5-year-old sitting on her lap in the passenger seat while her son drove the car.
Three other children, ages 4, 5 and 12, were in the back seat, with the youngest not in car seats, authorities said.
Latrobe police pulled over the vehicle Aug. 28 on Route 981 after several people called 911 to report an erratic driver.
"(The car) started running off the roadways and actually ran into someone's yard. When we came to the intersection, he turned (and) I could see his face. (I) said to my children that he looked kind of young to be driving,” witness Tamara Madatic said.
Madatic said she called 911 and followed the car for more than 6 miles through Derry Township, Latrobe and Unity Township.
An affidavit of probable cause filed Tuesday said Geyer told police that she allowed the boy to drive because she felt that he “needed to be the man of the house and learn some responsibility."
"How could somebody do that to their children, for their safety? And not just for their safety, but for the safety for people on the road,” Madatic said.
Geyer is charged with five counts each of endangering the welfare of children and reckless endangerment.
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