Teenaged Drivers-- Heaven Help Us!

Eric and I had already decided that 16 would not be the automatic age for our children to get behind the wheel alone for the first time. 30 sounds like a nice age to us, though waiting until after our children have professional jobs, or are married with children, or some such thing might not be the most practical way to go.

On our way to the realtor's office this morning, we got stuck in a long string of traffic. The cause for our delay? A single car accident. We could clearly see what had happened, and fortunately no one was hurt. Two young ladies (Is the legal age still 16? These girls looked mighty young to be possessors of a driving license!) had driven their car into a ditch. It appears that they had been driving down the hill too quickly in the rain and had been unable to stop, so a ditch was a better option than entering cross traffic.

The dented vehicle was currently perched at a very awkward angle, nose down and rear end flying high. Two tow trucks were working from opposite ends to get the car righted. Meanwhile, the teens giggled and smiled and pranced about the accident scene. What struck me as "interesting" was the fact that one girl was wandering around taking photos with her cell phone. She got the damaged car from all angles, the hill, the ditch, the police officer asking questions, the tow trucks and their drivers, and even us. Yes, she took pictures of all of us cars unfortunate enough to be caught in the long traffic jam. When it was all said and done, the car sustained fairly minor damage (broken headlight, dented bumper), and the girls drove away.

Up to this point, Eric and I had still been negotiating the 'Johnson Family Legal Driving Age'. I believe 18 was the most mentioned number. Though after what we witnessed today - the obvious calm and level headed *maturity* possessed by these 2 young women - I'm feeling "35" is a better place to start.