Boy (12) arrested while driving solo across Australia

Australian police detain child in the Outback during attempted cross-country road trip

Police in Australia’s Outback have arrested a 12-year-old boy who was driving solo across the country. File photograph: Getty Images
Police in Australia’s Outback have arrested a 12-year-old boy who was driving solo across the country. File photograph: Getty Images

Police in Australia’s Outback have arrested a 12-year-old boy who was almost one-third of his way through a solo road trip across the country.

The boy had driven more than 1,280km from his home in Kendall on the east coast when he was stopped by traffic police on Saturday on the Barrier Highway near the remote mining town of Broken Hill.

Police said he was pulled over because his car’s bumper bar was dragging along the ground.

The boy was driving to the west coast city of Perth, more than 4,020km from Kendall.

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Police have not said why he wanted to drive to Perth, whether he would be charged or whether he had refuelled during his journey.

AP