A man may be facing criminal charges after posting a video of a young boy driving a truck to his Facebook account.
The video was believed to be recorded from the passenger seat of a truck by Utah-based truck driver Mike Gustuson. The boy in the video appears to be no older than 12 years old. The one-minute video clip shows the boy driving on a country highway with steady traffic. Near the end of the clip, the boy appears to be frightened and asks the man filming to take the wheel.
The video was posted to Gustuson’s Facebook page, but after it garnered attention, it was removed. Attempts to reach Gustuson have been unsuccessful. The company he works for, Ship Ex out of Salt Lake City, declined to comment on the video.
The Utah Highway Patrol expressed their disapproval of the video, saying, “the child does obviously not have a license or a CDL and is not experienced. He could’ve killed somebody.” However, they also admit that there was likely no malicious intent behind letting the child drive: “I kind of understand where he’s coming from as a father, having some good father-son bonding time, but honestly, that’s just not the way to do it.”
They say that Gustuson could face criminal charges, but first they need to determine where the video was filmed.
Sources:
Erie TV News
KUTV