A 6-year-old boy allegedly was so upset at missing the school bus that he took the family’s car and tried to drive to class before crashing the vehicle.

The boy was checked out at Rappahannock General Hospital after yesterday morning’s crash, released and driven to his classes at Northumberland Elementary School, Virginia State Police Trooper J.L. Lewis said.

Lewis said the youth, a resident of Wicomico Church, felt so bad about missing the school bus yesterday morning that he took the keys to the family’s 2005 Ford Taurus while his mother was sleeping and drove toward school.

The boy was westbound on U.S. 360 at 7:40 a.m. when he lost control of the Taurus, ran off the right side of the road, then the left side, then the right again before striking an embankment and a utility pole, the trooper said.

The child was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, which occurred just east of state Route 636.

Authorities were withholding the name of the child, who was not seriously injured, the trooper said.

An investigation of the incident is continuing.