Hamilton woman charged after putting 11-year-old behind the wheel

A Hamilton woman who enlisted an 11-year-old to be her chauffeurhas beenstopped by police.

At about 8:30 p.m. Monday night, police spotted "a very young looking" male driving with a much older woman in the area of Albright Road and Quigley Road.

When they stopped the car,police learned that the 68-year-oldwoman had taughther young neighbourhow to drive so that he could help her with "an array of errands."

Ontarians need to be at least 16 years old to apply for a driver's licence.

According to Cst. Debbie McGreal-Dinning, media relations officer for Hamilton Police Service, officers reacted only to the age of the driver, not to how he was doing on the road.

The boy is "obviously young enough to look that he shouldn't be driving a vehicle."

"They didn't pull the car over because of the way the vehicle was operating, they just observed the fact that the driver looked young," she said.

Fortunately, no incidents took place. The boy was returned to his parents.

The woman was served with two provincial offence notices permitting anunlicenced person to drive a motor vehicle andfor having no insurance.