Boy, 11, leads police on 'dangerous' car chase after Grand Theft Auto session

The young driver led police on a motorway chase in Ontario, Canada. Photo / Getty Images

An 11-year-old boy took his parents' car on a "highly dangerous" joyride after playing Grand Theft Auto (GTA), police say.

The young driver led police on a motorway chase in Ontario, Canada, after motorists spotted him driving erratically and alerted authorities, Ontario Provincial Police say.

Police say the boy "wanted to see what it was like to drive a car" after playing the Grand Theft Auto video game on November 26.

11 year old boy returned to parents after failing to stop for police on Hwy400...
Wanted to drive after playing #GrandTheftAuto

— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) November 27, 2016

Sergeant Kerry Schmidt said it looked like an "impaired driver" was weaving through traffic, with the boy accelerating away from police during the chase.

"It was an 11-year-old child who thought it would be a good idea to take his parents' family minivan out for a test drive because he had just finished playing a session of Grand Theft Auto," he explained.

11 year old boy returned to parents after failing to stop for police on Hwy400...
Wanted to drive after playing #GrandTheftAuto

— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) November 27, 2016

"The games that you play are fun and pretend. As much as they put realism into it and they make it feel like it's real. You can't drive 200km down the highway, smash into a building, smash into some other cars, and whatever else you are going to hit, then reset your game and have your vehicle fixed and nothing happens.

"In the real world, if you crash your car, if you hit a garbage can, you hit a pot hole, you hit a bump, you hit something ... you can hurt yourself or you can easily kill someone."

He said that the boy's reckless driving could have easily resulted in "an absolute tragedy", adding: "GTA is not the way to learn how to drive".