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ABC News
ABC News
Lifestyle
By Rebecca Puddy

What happens when your video goes viral?

It's been two years since Kieran first hopped into a car with L plates, his parents and a camera, with his videos attracting 50 million views.

In 2016 Kieran Davidson decided on a whim to gaffer tape his camera to the dashboard of his parent's white hatchback before they took him on his first drive.

While the comedic videos of the terrifying experience that ensued were initially seen by around 20,000 people on his YouTube page, when he recut the footage this year and posted it to Facebook, the number of people watching skyrocketed.

Soon the clips were picked up by other Facebook pages, then came the international media distribution offers and invitations to strangers' parties.

The Davidsons from Adelaide in their two-door 2001 Toyota Echo' had become a viral sensation.

"It did 19,000 [views] in its first week, which I thought was pretty incredible," he said.

"And then it jumped to 100,000 and was doing 100,000 a day for about a week.

"The original video has now had 50 million views."

Kieran, 19, believes the video's success is attributed to its relatability — many people would have some experience of being in a car with a learner attempting to master the art of driving.

International offers and recognition

"I got recognised at a bar a couple of weeks ago and six people came up to me and said 'you're the kid that can't drive'," he said.

"I also got invited to a 21st of a guy who knew me through my video."

Kieran's parents Pam and Shane, both teachers, said they had been approached by strangers on the street and the video was now doing the rounds at school.

"Parents at school have been sharing it and are probably having a bit of a laugh at my expense," Pam said.

"We've had people looking at us and you can tell they're trying to work out how they know us."

Shane said someone recently asked him if he was Kieran's dad when he was buying a coffee in a cafe.

"I thought they might have been old school friends or something, but they recognised me off the video," he said.

Kieran said the video was never put onto social media with the intention of becoming viral.

"It might be funny, but I never thought it would get 50 million views," he said.

Creating a viral video has seemingly opened doors for the Davidsons, with a top secret American offer under negotiation and the family due to fly to Los Angeles later this year.

"People have asked me if the video is real and it is 100 per cent," he said.

"The only thing I do is duct tape the camera to the dashboard, hit the accelerator and hope something good happens.

"Usually mum or dad will freak out."

Has he become better at driving?

Despite the passage of two years since he got his learner's driver's licence, Kieran has still not progressed onto a provisional licence.

"No, I am still terrible," he joked.

"I had to renew my L's a month ago because I'm still so bad at manual — they were about to expire.

"It's just the clutch and stalling it."

Despite the constant stalling and nearly running over someone's letterbox, his ever patient parents Pam and Shane are still willing to get in a car with him behind the wheel.

Pam describes her son's driving style as a "heart starter".

"It's spatial awareness — he's just got none," she said.

"He'll go straight to a roundabout, and just going down a road where there's parked cars, he's way too close to them."

"I just find it very, very stressful."

Advice for parents of an "L" plater

Pam's advice for parents who are about to brave their first driving lesson is to get their child to practice with the gear stick and clutch before starting the car.

Also, make sure they are familiar with the location of the brake, indicators and windscreen wipers.

"As the instructor try to be forward thinking and don't panic," she said.

"Get home alive."

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