Of the many surprises I have encountered here are the number of teenage drivers ( and sometimes pre-teen) drivers. The need for teenagers to drive is due the need to arrive at a bus stop early in the morning, the need to follow sheep and cattle as they roam over the dessert, and sometimes to act as an emergency driver when a parent or grandparent is incapacitated due to illness or drug and alcohol use. It is not legal of course and I have interviewed 10 year old children who can drive and do so on an almost regular basis.
Unfortunately one of the more common reasons for the teenagers to drive is that a parent/relative is too drunk to drive. There are no taxis out here and it is an accepted fact of life that teens will drive when the parents cannot. Most of the time the teenagers try to stay off the state highways and keep to local roads but now and then there are accidents involving teenagers without a license. Is it better to have a sober teen driving illegally or have a parent who is incapacitated driving? Of course the best thing would be for the family group not to be driving at all.
This has given me pause when I drive here at night and makes me reluctant to drive the roads after darkness. The driver coming my way may be drunk, inexperienced, a teen under 16 , or all three combined. It is abusive of the teenagers to expect them to drive before they are ready but it is a fact of life here. There are many wonderful aspects of the extended family here, unfortunately the burden placed on teenagers is not one of them.
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