Girl, 8, Forced to Drive Car; Father Is Arrested

A man has been arrested after his 8-year-old daughter told police that he made her drive the car while he “helped her with the gas and brake pedals.”

The car bounced off other vehicles as it sped along at 60 mph, damaging seven vehicles before it came to rest, according to a criminal complaint that said the man was drunk.

Michael T. Banks, 27, was charged Wednesday with two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety for having his daughter and a 2-year-old boy in the car, causing injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle and causing injury while intoxicated.

Witnesses, including a bus driver, told police the girl was so small they were unaware that anyone was behind the wheel of the car.