[MertsA]

Forget 8 year olds, my 3.5 year old can drive a tractor through the woods no problem. We obviously only let him steer and have someone else on the throttle, but he can keep it centered, turn around, avoid obstacles, etc just fine. Kids can handle bipedal locomotion just fine, it's not like they don't have the ability to make rapid decisions to avoid obstacles or correct their position. Steering is no different, it just takes some practice and experience to adapt to it. It's the higher functions that children aren't suited to do.