After helping with the dishes, Eri swung her purse on her shoulder and said goodbye to her mother, promising she'll come back to see her soon. Keys in hand, her dad led Eri to the car, and then they drove (off) to the main street.
Do I have to add off in that last sentence? I've seen examples like that before. When is neccesary and when not?
Drove to emphasises the destination. Drove off to emphasises the driving.
Drive off means to leave in a vehicle.
It makes more sense to drive off from entering a car.
You can drive to the main street from anywhere, but if you drive off, you are leaving somewhere from stand-still
I do not have a problem with the point of view - I can easily say
We left the house in a hurry and quickly drove off to the main street
where "drove off" in this sentence to me means: quickly entering a car and leaving the place in a hurry - so the fact that we are leaving is more important than where we went whereas
We left the house in a hurry and quickly drove to the main street
to me means: we left and drove to the main street fast, e.g. denoting that we drove at speed but not mentioning how fast we left the place, and the main street is more important than how fast we left
After this extract, do you continue to write with the point of view of Eri (or anyone in the car), or someone in the house, like the mother?
If you're writing from the POV of someone in the car, then don't use off. If you're writing from the POV of someone watching the car, or someone who ISN'T in the car, you can use 'off'.
Writing only 'drove to' seems to indicate that whoever is experiencing this actually saw them reach the main street. On the other hand, 'drove off to' indicates that the person saw the car driving away, he knows they're headed to the main street, but he doesn't necessarily know if they reached there or not.
Using simply 'drove off' can also be used if the destination is not given, or it isn't sure. For example, "I got into the car and drove off."
