LTO suspends license of driver who allowed child to steer vehicle in viral video
The Land Transportation Office has issued a 90-day suspension of the driver's license of the man who let a child steer a moving sedan. The vehicle's owner, as well as the driver, have also been served a show cause order.
In a video posted on Threads on Oct. 11, and uploaded on the Facebook page of the Department of Transportation, a young boy can be seen sitting on the lap of an adult in the driver’s seat of a sedan. The video shows the child steering the moving vehicle, with the adult lightly holding the steering wheel. Neither the child nor the adult is wearing a seatbelt.
According to the LTO, the incident happened in Butuan City.
The LTO has identified the owner of the sedan and have ordered her to appear before the Intelligence and Investigation Division on Oct. 15. In its show cause order, the agency ordered both the owner and driver of the vehicle to submit an explanation prior to Wednesday as to why they should not be given several administrative charges.
Included in the charges are reckless driving, failure to wear a seatbelt, allowing a child to sit on the front seat of a vehicle, and letting an improper person operate a motor vehicle.
Meanwhile, the LTO placed the involved sedan under alarm, meaning the vehicle and its license plate are flagged in its system, preventing registration renewal, among other transactions. Once the agency identifies the driver, his license will be put under a 90-day preventive suspension.
If the sedan owner and driver fail to respond to the show cause order by Oct. 15, the LTO will be basing its investigation on available data.
This is not an isolated case. In August, the LTO also served a show cause order against the owner and driver of an SUV that was shown on video being steered by a child in a mall parking lot. The driver was ordered to surrender his license.
