Money Moral Dilemma: Should we pay for driving fines that weren't our fault?

Paddybill

No way it's the driver's fault for parking in the wrong place and speeding let the driver pay

magicgranny

No. Just no.

crmism

This is not the first time I've asked myself whether this is a serious question!

Of course you shouldn't pay. It beggars belief how stupid some motorists behave and, as neither you nor your partner were behind the wheel at the time, you have every justification telling the other couple what to do with themselves. A motorist is deemed to be in full control of the vehicle at all times, and should obey the rules and regulations wherever they may be.

It doesn't matter whether or not you egged the driver to ignore the local speed limits or parking restrictions, it was his/her responsibility to comply with the signs that were placed for everyone's safety and convenience, and there's no reason why you should fork out and pay for his/her ignorance.

Hard_Head

We often holiday abroad with my brother and his wife and I drive almost all the time - If i were to get a ticket it would be me in the driving seat and therefore my responsibility - how can a passenger be responsible ?

Manxman_in_exile

If it were me I'd be pretty hacked off if I had to do all the driving on holiday.


And this was done to save money? Well it's OK for you and your partner as you never had to accept responsibility for driving, and you saved money out of it!


How was the single driver chosen?

Gresp

As others have said - a big, fat NO.

Driving/parking offences - and the consequences - are the driver's responsibility, not their passengers. That's regardless of whether the passengers warned them.

The fact you did warn them makes it an even bigger, fatter NO.

Of course, had it been one minor, inadvertent error, the driver might gain more sympathy. But these multiple offences, especially against your warnings, show a flagrant disregard for traffic rules, safety and other road users.

Hopefully the fines - and your refusal to contribute to them - will teach the driver a much needed lesson.

AndrewHawthorne

If this were "Who wants to be a millionaire?" and this was a question asked of the audience, this would probably be one of those answers where a ridiculous majority gives a single answer.

Clearly, this is a "no". It was not your idiotic foot on the accelerator, nor your moronic hand on the steering wheel. Let the anti-social and inconsiderate fool take the penalty for behaving in such a manner. I doubt any lesson will be learned as a consequence. It's someone else's fault I got caught, innit?

I understand why when you were on holiday, having invested in a hire car but minimising your costs with only a single insured driver, and having trusted your friend to drive you without incident, then found yourself in a much more pressing dilemma of the action you should take in the moment. You complained, you warned, but still your chump of a friend couldn't drive or park in a manner that suggested they cared about anyone but their self.

Not your problem.

Your problem is however one of finding better friends. Or one better friend, at least. That you would post this as a dilemma says a lot about your bond of friendship with the chimp in question. That the chimp could even consider asking for a contribution to the penalty for their misdemeanour speaks volumes about their outlook on life and the responsibility they take for their actions.

Don't pay. Also, lose this idiot from your life before you or someone dear to you gets killed or injured as a consequence of their actions.

shinydoc

Interesting thread and resulting in the expected polarised opinions, given the limited facts available, as already mentioned.

The driver clearly took all the responsibility to save money (this is a money saving forum?) because of that, they clearly missed out on aspects of the holiday while trying to concentrate on driving in a foreign and unfamiliar place; which they clearly didn’t do very well either!

Everyone else bathed in all the sightseeing, enjoying their holiday, saving money, but clearly not taking any responsibility for checking directions, speeding signs, and probably too quick to dash off and enjoy the location, rather than quickly check that they were actually parked legally?

Seems a win, win, win for all the passengers, and a lose, lose, lose for the driver, which hardly seems fair, but as many have said, we weren’t there, so don’t have the benefit of what was said, what was agreed, and what, potentially more important, what was ignored.

The comments here should help the original forumite decide based on their answers, but it has certainly given me food for thought, as I always do the driving, mainly because others ‘don’t want to take the risk’ :rotfl:

pixiebel81

shinydoc wrote: »

The driver clearly took all the responsibility to save money (this is a money saving forum?) because of that, they clearly missed out on aspects of the holiday while trying to concentrate on driving in a foreign and unfamiliar place; which they clearly didn’t do very well either!

Everyone else bathed in all the sightseeing, enjoying their holiday, saving money, but clearly not taking any responsibility for checking directions, speeding signs, and probably too quick to dash off and enjoy the location, rather than quickly check that they were actually parked legally?

That's a hell of a leap you're making there. You have no idea what the passengers were doing while the driver was driving, when I have been a passenger abroad its always been my responsibility to read the map and provide the driver with directions, telling him what signs we were passing etc.

socksy

Definitely not!
Did you agree to park in the Disabled bays or anywhere else that wasnt allowed- if not and you tried to tell them then I most certainly wouldnt...