Girl, 14, drives younger siblings to school

Waikato police are worried about the behaviour of parents after a second underage driver was found behind the wheel of a car - this time taking small children to school.

Acting Waikato road policing manager Senior Sergeant Tim Anderson said the latest case involved a 14-year-old girl who drove up to a joint police-ACC child restraint checkpoint.

"It appears she had just dropped her younger siblings off (at school) for her mother," he said.

The child has been referred to Youth Aid while the mother has been charged with aiding and abetting an unlicensed driver to drive.

The penalty for such an offence is a $400 fine.

"This latest incident comes just 20 days after a 13-year-old boy was caught driving at 140km/h while his father slept in the front passenger seat," Mr Anderson said.

Police were "disturbed" by the prospect of how many other underage drivers were on the road.

"Children - and that's what these 13- and 14-year-olds are - don't have the cognitive skills to take in the big picture involved with driving and the consequences."

Other trends to appear at the checkpoints, which continue for the next two weeks, were the lack of knowledge about the importance of car restraint tether straps and the requirement for children to be buckled in at all.

A total of 47 infringement notices were issued yesterday as police supported ACC staff in their attempts to lift the compliance rate for child car restraints in Hamilton from 65 per cent to 75 per cent.

- NZPA