Ontario kid goes on joyride in parents' car which promptly ends up on fire in a ditch

One Toronto-area kid is in a world of trouble this morning after a joyride in their parents' car ended about as comically bad as one could have expected.

The 14-year-old, who thankfully only sustained minor injuries, decided to use their family vehicle for a quick food run despite being two years younger than the legal age to even apply for a licence.

They were surprisingly brash enough to take the highway, merging onto Highway 401 eastbound with a passenger in tow, where they ended up crashing into another car near Mississauga Road.

An X post from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) early Friday morning detailed how the young teen then careened off the road into a ditch, where their parents' hatchback burst into flames like something out of an action flick.

14 years old takes parents vehicle to go get food. The 14 y/o rear ends another vehicle on #HWY401EB, Mississauga Rd. The parents' vehicle ends up in ditch & catches fire. 14 y/o & passenger flee. Caught by #MississaugaOPP.
Minor injuries. Charges pending. Updates to follow ^td pic.twitter.com/Bpr1w8PEYF

— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) July 5, 2024

Though the underage motorist and their passenger fled in a panic, they were apprehended by the Mississauga OPP, and charges are now pending.

Photos from the scene show one very burnt-out vehicle in a field, and damage to another. Meanwhile, rush hour drivers in the area were stuck in even worse traffic than usual, with multiple lanes of the 401 blocked for the fire.

Quite a few people chimed in to comment on the crime, saying that their own parents would have "kicked their ass" and grounded them until they were 50 years old had they been behind the wheel at that age.

Others noted that the kid surely found out the hard way that "driving a real car is not as easy as in video games," and wondered what the repercussions will be for both the youth's driving future and their parents' car insurance.