"I only wanted to drive around a bit," the boy said, according to police in Soest, Germany.
ADVERTISEMENTAn 8-year-old boy is unscathed after taking his parents' car for a joyride on Germany's high-speed autobahn early Thursday.
Police in the western city of Soest said the boy's mother called just after midnight (6 p.m. ET Wednesday) to report that her son, who is a car lover, had driven off in her automatic transmission Volkswagen Golf.
The boy regularly drives go-carts and bumper cars, police said in a press release.
Police launched a search of the highway but it was his mother who found him about 30 minutes later at a rest stop west of the city.
"I only wanted to drive around a bit," the boy said, according to police.
But the highway speeds of roughly 86 miles per hour in the dark left the boy feeling uncomfortable. He decided to pull over in the rest area, parking in the corner of the lot and turning on his hazard lights, police said.
No injuries or damages were reported.