Five-year-old crashes car

An Australian mother was in hospital today with her two sons after their car crashed while her five-year-old boy was allegedly steering.

The other boy, a nine-year-old, told police his mother had been drinking and allowed the five-year-old to steer while she operated the pedals.

All three were thrown from the car after it left the road about 90 miles north of Brisbane, hit a tree and crashed down an embankment.

Neither the mother nor her children were wearing seat belts, said Senior Constable Dave Lonergan of Queensland state police.

The five-year-old suffered a broken hand in the accident. His older brother was not seriously hurt.

Their mother was in hospital in a stable condition with neck and back injuries and facial lacerations.