Money Moral Dilemma: Should my friends share the cost of my holiday speeding fine?

jedav

If you had been alone in the car, who would you expect to pay for your "innocent mistake"?  You might want to tell your friends about it and (some) may want to offer to chip in, but you were in charge of the vehicle and they were not, so they could not have had any control over what you did, so expecting them to pay is unfair.

I caught a tyre on the corner a wall (differing heights of ground round it) when turning in a drive after dropping off a friend.  She did offer to pay towards the cost of a new tyre, but I refused the offer because it was my responsibility as I was in charge of the vehicle.

Just in case anyone wants to be judgemental about my hard line, I have had one speeding fine, 37 in a 30 just changed from 40.  It's a myth that one has a short distance to slow down after a speed change sign in the UK, so beware!  My error, my fault, despite possibly being an "innocent mistake", so I paid up promptly and did the course.  One participant had been caught doing 22 in a 20.  Ignorance of the law is no defence.

HellsBells384

I think there’s no harm in asking whether your mates would be prepared to chip in, after all, you’re the one taking all the risk by doing the driving and they are hugely benefitting from that by being able to sit back, relax and enjoy. I think it’s only fair to share the fine in some format.

nero33

Davecu said:

A minibus full of us, going skiing, decided not to bother getting a motorway vignette as we were only travelling for one junction in Austria after driving across the border from Germany. Unfortunately, the police were waiting at the end of the slip road as we exited the motorway. I was driving and got fined €120. As it was a group decision, everyone contributed to the fine. On the plus side, I paid with my Tesco credit card and got Clubcard points on the transaction.

Did you share the benefits gained from the Clubcard with them?

Jemma01

The comparison to the UK driving is disingenuous. This person was driving to save everyone the hassle and cost of public transport in a country neither knows how to drive in, driving is so convenient, I always hire a car. If I was doing everyone else a favour driving them around and then they leave it to me to sort out when sht hits the fan, I'm not driving them again. Let someone else take the hit. they were probably chatting to the person and distracting them. It is a group drive.

Admittedly, I wouldn't drive ppl around in a foreign country unless we agreed what would happen if we get into an accident or receive any kind of fine like parking tickets too.

Pollycat

Jemma01 said:

Admittedly, I wouldn't drive ppl around in a foreign country unless we agreed what would happen if we get into an accident or receive any kind of fine like parking tickets too.

And that's where the originator of this MMD went wrong.

And also in their choice of friends

silvercar

Pollycat said:

Jemma01 said:

Admittedly, I wouldn't drive ppl around in a foreign country unless we agreed what would happen if we get into an accident or receive any kind of fine like parking tickets too.

And that's where the originator of this MMD went wrong.

And also in their choice of friends

I can’t imagine a conversation that starts with, “I’ll agree to be the driver on condition everyone shares the cost of any fines.” That may be seen as a green light to put your foot down, given any consequence would be split 4 ways.

Jemma01

silvercar said:

Pollycat said:

Jemma01 said:

Admittedly, I wouldn't drive ppl around in a foreign country unless we agreed what would happen if we get into an accident or receive any kind of fine like parking tickets too.

And that's where the originator of this MMD went wrong.

And also in their choice of friends

I can’t imagine a conversation that starts with, “I’ll agree to be the driver on condition everyone shares the cost of any fines.” That may be seen as a green light to put your foot down, given any consequence would be split 4 ways.

No one drives with the intention of getting fines, no one wants to pay fines even the drivers themselves, neither is it something we want to burden other ppl with. The fact is, the risk is higher when driving in a foreign place. Agreeing what would happen if a risk manifest is not out of the ordinary. If anyone is weirded out by this, they're likely to be unhelpful if things go wrong.

Redhuntress1968

Wouldn't be a dilemma for my friends as they would automatically chip in. Driving abroad can be a nightmare and although if they didn't offer I wouldn't ask, that would be the last time I volunteered. You're friends, you're on holiday and it wouldn't be worth falling out over. 

Parsleymonious

The same thing happened to me a few years ago in the UK. I was driving with 3 friends in the car and got caught by a speed camera. My friends DID offer to share the cost of the fine with me but I refused. It’s the driver’s responsibility to pay the fine but good friends should offer to contribute. It’s up to the driver whether they accept or not but the driver shouldn’t ask or expect.

Sally1964

It would be very generous IF your holiday friends made a token gesture to the cost of the speeding fine. However, to be honest, this was your mistake because you were driving and therefore need to take accountability. I don't wish to sound harsh but don't be surprised if your friends do not help you cover the cost lf the fine. Would you help them to cover a speeding fine?