12-year-old boy drives 800 miles across Australia before police stop him

A 12-year-old boy, who was attempting to drive solo across the Australian outback, had already covered around 800 miles of his journey before he was eventually stopped by highway patrol officers, local media reports.

According to the Australian Associated Press, the boy was trying to complete an epic 2,500 mile journey from Kendall, New South Wales, to Perth in Western Australia when he was pulled over at Broken Hill in the far west of NSW on Saturday morning.

"He'd taken the family car," Detective Inspector Kim Fehon said. "His parents reported him missing immediately after he left home, so they were looking for him."

The police said they stopped him when they noticed the car's bumper was dragging on the ground. "So it appears (the boy) did have an accident while driving," Detective Inspector Fehon said.