Canada probes child driver video

The film showed the little boy driving the vehicle on a dirt road

Canadian police say they have begun investigating a video showing a seven-year-old boy driving a car along a dirt road while his father films him.

The video, which Canadian media told Quebec police about, was posted on the video-sharing site YouTube but the date and location of the events are unknown.

The man films from the front passenger seat, while a woman and two children sit in the back, media reports say.

Police said a Crown prosecutor would decide about possible charges.

Canadian reports said none of the people in the car was wearing a seatbelt.

The video showed the boy sitting on the edge of the seat as a man identified as his father gave him encouragement, CBC website reported.

At 40km/h (25mph) the man says: "It's a little bit fast." When the boy reaches 70km/h (43.5mph) he laughs and says: "He's rolling, he's rolling", the broadcaster reported.

'Smile for the camera'

The man identifies the child as Samuel from the North Shore and tells him to "smile for the camera".

The Montreal Gazette said the footage was shot on a rainy day with the Honda CRV's windscreen wipers going.

Police had opened an investigation after seeing the footage, CBC quoted Sgt Chantal Mackels as saying.

Sgt Mackels said she was "very hopeful" that police would determine the family's identity, although police were not presuming that the man and woman were the children's parents, the Montreal Gazette reported.

A charge of dangerous driving was unlikely as the driver was underage and not legally responsible. Other charges could be applied to the adults in the car, she said.