The Annex Guardian

Here's the scenario: Seemingly, the woman's 16-year-old daughter, who has a Class G1 driving licence and has taken some formal driving lessons in preparation for obtaining her G2 licence, was at a teenage house party with several of her friends. As the story goes, alcohol was quite prevalent largely due to the fact the host's parents were away for the weekend. Sound familiar?

Now when the night was over and it was time to leave, the young girl approached a male friend who had promised to drive her and a few friends home. He also promised her that he would not be drinking any alcohol as he had his mother's car and agreed to be the designated driver.

But as it turned out, the young lad got caught up in the high-spirited occasion and not only had a drink, he had quite a few. So much in fact, he was definitely too impaired to drive and his obnoxious behaviour had him bordering on being drunk. The trouble was, he insisted on driving his car home and wasn't taking no for an answer. Fearing that he would drive, the woman's daughter volunteered to do the driving as she had not been drinking.

The young fellow agreed to let her drive and he occupied the front seat as the 'licensed driver' to fulfill the requirements of her G1 licence. The friends were all dropped safely home, as was the young lad who had too much to drink, and to prevent him from taking the car out again later that night, the young girl drove the car to her home, alone, with no licensed person accompanying her, parked the car safely and all was well.

While the woman knew her daughter had broken the law, she was unsure as to how serious it could have been, and that was her question.

First, thankfully everyone arrived at their destination safely. However, that does not justify a few poor judgment calls made that night. While contemplating what to do, the group missed the first and most obvious choice, which is to call for one of the parents to come out and drive everyone home. Failing that, there are plenty taxis to provide the same service.

From a legal perspective, the troubles began as soon they embarked on their journey home.

The law states that a G1 driver must be accompanied by a fully licensed driver with no less than four years experience and that driver must be sober. It sounds as though the young man accompanying the novice driver failed on two counts; experience and sobriety.

However, once they were on the road travelling to the various destinations, the two likely would have had difficulties had they been stopped by the police that may have included both having their licences suspended, both being subjected to breath testing or possible charges stemming from the partnership.

The next problem occurred when the young girl decided to drive the car home alone. Not only was she now driving while not licensed, had something occurred such as an accident, the vehicle's insurance policy may not have covered any incurred liability or damage leaving both the driver and the vehicle's owner open to the risk of a civil action.

Parents, caregivers and guardians must ensure novice drivers are aware of all the rules governing their G1 licences. While I am sure the young novice driver in this case felt she did the right thing for all the right reasons, the truth of the matter is the law could have looked differently upon the matter and the consequences could have been serious.