Slidell woman gave her 12-year-old daughter a crash course in driving, letting the youngster take the family car for a spin that ended when the vehicle slammed into two parked cars, Slidell police said Tuesday.
No one was injured in the crash in the parking lot of the Pinecrest Plaza strip mall on Old Spanish Trail at Slidell Avenue, police said.
The woman and her daughter were leaving the shopping center Monday at 4:30 p.m. when the girl begged her mother to let her drive home, Lt. Rob Callahan said.
The woman agreed to let the girl get behind the wheel of the 1995 Mazda Millenia under the condition that they would not leave the parking lot, Callahan said.
But after backing the car out of the parking space as her mother rode in the front passenger seat, the girl promptly drove onto Slidell Avenue and began turning right at a stop light at Old Spanish Trail, one of the city's busiest streets, he said.
"The mother said she was yelling at the girl, 'No! No! No! I wanted you to stay in the parking lot!' " Callahan said.
The girl apparently panicked and stepped on the gas instead of the brakes while keeping the wheel turned to the right, he said.
The car hopped a curb, zoomed through the parking lot and crashed into a pair of Nissan Maximas parked side by side, Callahan said. The mother and daughter declined medical treatment, he said.
"This wasn't the brightest thing to do, but at least they were wearing their seat belts," he said.
The mother, whose name is being withheld to protect her daughter's identity, was cited for letting her underage daughter drive.
The girl was booked with careless driving and driving without a license.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1090402000124400.xml
No one was injured in the crash in the parking lot of the Pinecrest Plaza strip mall on Old Spanish Trail at Slidell Avenue, police said.
The woman and her daughter were leaving the shopping center Monday at 4:30 p.m. when the girl begged her mother to let her drive home, Lt. Rob Callahan said.
The woman agreed to let the girl get behind the wheel of the 1995 Mazda Millenia under the condition that they would not leave the parking lot, Callahan said.
But after backing the car out of the parking space as her mother rode in the front passenger seat, the girl promptly drove onto Slidell Avenue and began turning right at a stop light at Old Spanish Trail, one of the city's busiest streets, he said.
"The mother said she was yelling at the girl, 'No! No! No! I wanted you to stay in the parking lot!' " Callahan said.
The girl apparently panicked and stepped on the gas instead of the brakes while keeping the wheel turned to the right, he said.
The car hopped a curb, zoomed through the parking lot and crashed into a pair of Nissan Maximas parked side by side, Callahan said. The mother and daughter declined medical treatment, he said.
"This wasn't the brightest thing to do, but at least they were wearing their seat belts," he said.
The mother, whose name is being withheld to protect her daughter's identity, was cited for letting her underage daughter drive.
The girl was booked with careless driving and driving without a license.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1090402000124400.xml
