The father of a young child filmed riding on a car’s roof rack in Perth’s suburbs says the four-year-old is autistic and any parent would understand how difficult children can sometimes be to control.
Police today charged a 36-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, with dangerous driving over the incident.
The accused woman’s husband today revealed she was devastated by the events and now broke down every time she saw the videos.
He said their son, who had autism and does not speak, was difficult to contain at times. They believed he had climbed out of the car and up onto the roof rack through an open window.
The man claimed his wife did not realise the child was on the roof when she was driving and he questioned why so many other motorists chose to film the incident instead of attempting to alert her to the danger.
The Holden Captiva was spotted by other motorists with the child clinging to its roof as it travelled about 80km/h on Tonkin Highway near Harrisdale about 5.40pm on Friday.
One witness said he saw the woman stop the car and pull the boy down after he signalled to her.
“She looked truly shocked when I told her that her child was on the roof,” he said.
“I drove off before I could see him being put back in the car as there was another car behind me.”
The mother-of-five was eventually stopped by police at a service station on Nicholson Road in Harrisdale.
Police allege three children were in the car but only two were secured in child seats.
The maximum penalty for dangerous driving on a first offence is a $3000 fine.
Child protection authorities visited the family’s Camillo home today but no one was home at the time.
The roof rack basket, which has been removed from the vehicle, was dragged out of the carport and dumped on the front lawn of the property yesterday by a woman claiming to be a relative.
The Department of Communities, which includes child protection and family support, said it does not comment on specific cases but that when the safety of any child was of concern it worked with police to coordinated a response.
Child Protection Minister Simone McGurk said she could understand how people would be concerned for the child’s welfare after watching the footage of him clinging to the car’s roof rack.
“I think the police are best placed to make a judgement about the charges that are to be laid in that case,” she said.
Videos of the incident have now been viewed hundreds of thousands of times online.
Police and Road Safety Minister Michelle Roberts on Sunday labelled the footage “highly disturbing”.