Father let's his 9-year-old daughter drive him around after he had been drinking

A suburban Detroit man said letting his 9-year-old daughter drive him around after he had been drinking was a bad idea that grew out of good memories from his youth. Shawn Weimer, who faces trial on a felony child abuse charge, said he made a mistake in asking his daughter to drive in the early morning of Oct. 8. But the 39-year-old thought of the driving he did at her age on a 22-acre farm and around the junkyard his family owned.

Police arrested Weimer after pulling over the van and finding his daughter behind the wheel near their home. Surveillance video from a Brownstown Township gas station shows Weimer bragging about her driving skills.

www.cbsnews.com...


Are you [snip] kidding me!? what parent allows their child to do something like this?
especially being under the influence! if simply letting her drive period was not enough he was drunk,in no kind of condition so whatever to monitor the situation

I do have a small child,A daughter to be exact and I would never,ever allow something like this.
Sober,buzzed or two sheets tot he wind,piss wasted.

I know people make mistakes,It is just this could of ended a lot worse then it did,He is lucky that he is only facing felony child abuse & not vehicular homicide/manslaughter and/or even worse...Having to live with the fact that he killed his own child!

reply to post by PerfectPerception


How did she reach the pedals?

Originally posted by PerfectPerception

Are you f***ing kidding me!? what parent allows their child to do something like this?
es

A drunk parent obviously.

It's not that shocking dude.

reply to post by Mizzijr

It's not that shocking dude.

Agreed. My parents let me start driving on back roads about that age. They were always sober though... Not seeing how this is such a super big deal. Some people *gasp* murder there kids.

Its good to teach your kids to drive while they are young ,although probably not while drinking .
Good on him for getting involved with his kids .Future WRC contender??

I think what is absolutely shocking here is the reasoning and circumstances. This guy thought because ma and pa kettle let him toot around the back 40 when he was a kid that somehow it made this okay?? How exactly would his childhood have made it a good idea to turn his 9 year old into the taxi driver for his drunken tail? The lack of judgement here warrants the Felony charge. I hope he has fun with the consequences now.

I sincerely hope he gets some serious time to consider the fact it could have gotten her killed. I mean really..... letting a kid drive isn't necessarily a bad thing, if it's a controlled thing. VERY controlled. Letting a kid drive off by themselves is quite BAD as ideas go. How was his being drunk any better than letting......no, FORCING...his 9 year old to drive all alone? Yikes... Some parents shouldn't be, period.

I agree with the poster on up above about it not being that shocking. This is very common in my area, and even when I was 10 years old I drove a car myself. Same with most of my friends, they all drove when they were young.

Stupid? Of course, but when growing up it seemed very normal.

That is kind of dumb. I understand where he's coming from with the whole driving on the backroads and the dump thing, but 9 is still too young to be doing that. Granted, if she'd been a few years older, it'd be a different story.

I know that such things sound backwards to a lot of people, but, seriously, if we stopped coddling kids and making every little slightly dangerous thing a big deal, things would be a lot better.

reply to post by PerfectPerception


this was actually quite common 60-70yrs ago...my grandfather has told me stories of driving his dad around from bar To bar....of course that was a long time ago and on the back roads...

I wonder if the daughter was a better driver at that time? Hmm.

reply to post by Oakislander

I wonder if the daughter was a better driver at that time? Hmm.

This is a good question. Frankly - i fail to see the big drama here. The father is guilty,true. He knew he was the only driver and still drank heavily. But 9 year old are capable of driving,if taught by parents. It is not like forcing kid to work in sweat shop.
I mean, i know some 9 year olds who are more adult and responsible then me.
My conclusion - police was right to pull them off the road and the guy deserves to kiss his driver license goodbye. But nothing more serious.

From what i get from some of the people in this thread is
1) age determines skill level at driving
a) so old people should be better drivers riiiiggggghhhhtttt?

2) Drinking makes you a bad parent
a) this way to opinionated but the fact remains good parents don't always raise good kids

3) We have to freak out about everything
a) she got pulled over instead of crashing, that sounds like she at least knew to becareful. There are older people that crash too ya know

4) We need to not let our kids do anything until the GOV says they are old enough.
a) limit it by understanding not age. height is another good factor, but can be overcome with modification. And in all honesty who is really going to be able to stop a kid from doing what they want 100% of the time?

I think the cop should have given her a checklist of things she could improve on (encourage her to get better), told the father that next time he should call a cab, and finally to commend them for over all not hurting anyone. The GOV wrecks more lives than these 2 did.

Lets also add that if the father goes to jail what will happen to the family now? Grade A thinking ahead on all this from "child abuse" screamers. If and when you have kids I hope you raise them to be polite and safe, but most importantly I hope you teach them to think for themselves....as a matter a fact you may have to let someone else do that last one for you.

I've seen 9 year olds drive better than most women and men over the age of 60.

Idk why people are having a heart attack over this. at least the father wasn't a pedo or child molestor. he could be a lot worse than letting his daughter drive.

Originally posted by elrey72011
Idk why people are having a heart attack over this. at least the father wasn't a pedo or child molestor. he could be a lot worse than letting his daughter drive.

The man is a drunk...putting his own little girl in danger because he's too irresponsible to remain sober enough to get his own sorry tail from point A to point B and no one sees something wrong with this picture?

She may have actually been a good driver. Likewise, those 10 year old killers I see pictured in every African brush war the world media goes to photograph are probably very effective little soldiers too. It isn't meant to draw a moral equivalent, but I do wish to point out how some things are just NOT MEANT for little kids, regardless of their ability to learn or perform the task. Isn't that what the outrage over kids making sneakers overseas is all about?

Among the tasks I can think of being unfit for a child is being the chauffeur to a drunkard masquerading as a father. I cannot personally imagine a loving and nurturing parent allowing themselves to be in public, drunk AND with their child to begin with. We don't even need to get to the 'putting the kid in the drivers seat' part, since decent parenting doesn't get to step 1. Wow.. This has really been an interesting morning here for wild threads running right on the outer limits.

I dont think this warrants much jail time. I think a hefty volunteer schedule at a children's hospital would be sufficient.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000

Originally posted by elrey72011
Idk why people are having a heart attack over this. at least the father wasn't a pedo or child molestor. he could be a lot worse than letting his daughter drive.

The man is a drunk...putting his own little girl in danger because he's too irresponsible to remain sober enough to get his own sorry tail from point A to point B and no one sees something wrong with this picture?

She may have actually been a good driver. Likewise, those 10 year old killers I see pictured in every African brush war the world media goes to photograph are probably very effective little soldiers too. It isn't meant to draw a moral equivalent, but I do wish to point out how some things are just NOT MEANT for little kids, regardless of their ability to learn or perform the task. Isn't that what the outrage over kids making sneakers overseas is all about?

Among the tasks I can think of being unfit for a child is being the chauffeur to a drunkard masquerading as a father. I cannot personally imagine a loving and nurturing parent allowing themselves to be in public, drunk AND with their child to begin with. We don't even need to get to the 'putting the kid in the drivers seat' part, since decent parenting doesn't get to step 1. Wow.. This has really been an interesting morning here for wild threads running right on the outer limits.

You see you define what is wrong, but not what is right. And lets just say for arguments sake that there is more to the story. Like his car broke down or his ride left and he had to get home cause (insert random important untimely task here). When would it be ok in your eyes? And if its not, please provide a better solution. This is like telling someone in debt that it is their fault....when its medical expenses they had to pay and is of no fault of their own.

Secondly what she had already been taught. There are numerous cases of kids grabbing their parents guns to defend their home and numerous more where they have killed themselves or others on accident. No matter which case you can not say the act of teach a child how to operate something "in case of emergency" is a bad idea.

the majority of you completely missed the point and if I honestly have to point out what is wrong with a grown man,intoxicated mind you,allowing his 9 year old daughter to drive around in a car?

there is nothing wrong with this,where do you come from? maybe to you this is normal practice to get smashed and let lil ole billy take the wheel and I am just out of the loop.

I am more alarmed that he was wasted and a 9 year old child was basically the parent in the situation,he should of never endangered his child like that,period.

accidents happen over less.

anymore responses on this site only mirror what is truly wrong with our world and society to begin with.
people need to wake up,maybe put down the booze

Drunk or not it's ridiculous to think this is so shocking.

Kids that age operate equipment and machinery that is much more dangerous and expensive all the time in farming and private land situations.

Ignorance breeds fear. The whole of urban society telling you something is wrong doesn't mean it is and the whole of urban society telling you some kid is inept or incapable to perform a task safely or well doesn't make that true either.

Sure, sticking a kid in the drivers seat and simply saying "drive" is a lot different from weeks or months of training and practice and supervision but to go drop-jaw and freak out because there's a kid operating a machine is a bit ridiculous.

Being under an arbitrary age like 16 or 18 or 21 doesn't make you an idiot or invalid unable to perform tasks.


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I could disassemble, clean, and reassemble my parents guns when I was this girls age. I could hunt, and understood gun safety. And I knew not to kill things for fun. Hunting was for food. Clay pigeons are for fun. My parents didn't believe in shielding me from the evils of the world. They believed in teaching me how to live with, and understand those evils. They also believed all questions that a child asks should be properly answered. Not ignored. BTW. I could also drive.

The difference is, my parents were sober and very responsible people. And they instilled this in me. In a medical or other emergency, I wouldn't have given this a second thought. But this man was irresponsible with his child, and set a very bad example and precedent in her life. My old man would never have done something like this.

Still, if I would have been the cop, I would have taken the father back to the cruiser and chewed his ass up one side and back down the other. Then I would have taken them both home and made someone go get the vehicle that was sober.

Revoking this mans license, or giving him jail time, only puts a burden on the family, and won't make him any more responsible in the future. Save the jail time for the real criminals.

IMO, some kids are far more capable and responsible under the right circumstances than we give them credit for. This case is evidence of that. She probably had better judgement than he did, and should have been doing the driving anyway.