Boy, 13, caught speeding while father sleeps

Waikato police stopped a car being driven by a 13-year-old boy speeding at nearly 140km/h with his father asleep in the passenger seat.

Police clocked the car doing 137km/h on Friday night on State Highway 1B near Taupiri, 8km southeast of Huntly, said Waikato road policing manager, Inspector Leo Tooman.

After initially attempting to give the officer false details the father said his son had been driving because he was suffering from gout.

The father had been charged with aiding and abetting an unlicensed driver.

"The father may feel he's woken up from a bad dream ... but imagine the potential nightmare that could have occurred if they'd crashed at that speed," Mr Tooman said.

"Most 13-year-olds simply don't have the cognitive skills to take in the big picture, this is totally unacceptable behaviour that put simply was a disaster waiting to happen."

- NZPA