16 Year Old Crashes Car

[bad company]

I really am asking for a friend.

My friends son is 16 and does some work at a local golf club. After work he persuaded a 22 year old female colleague to let him drive her car around the car park. Inevitably it went wrong and he crashed into a tree, nobody hurt but the car’s damaged.

So who is stuck with paying for the repairs? The insurance company obviously won’t want to know and the girls parents are telling my friend that he’ll have to pay.

[anonymous-user]

Sounds like the right moral thing for the lad to do is to pay, especially as he has a job.

Let the arguing commence!

[Gameface]

bad company said:

The girls parents are telling my friend that he’ll have to pay.

fking right. Them and their son.

[pinchmeimdreamin]

she allowed an obviously inexperienced, uninsured, underage driver to drive her car.

I would say its 100% her fault, However If It was Me I would be suggesting they split the costs 50/50.

[bad company]

pinchmeimdreamin said:

she allowed an obviously inexperienced, uninsured, underage driver to drive her car.

I would say its 100% her fault, However If It was Me I would be suggesting they split the costs 50/50.

That’s exactly what I said to my friend. Not sure of the legal position though.

[67Dino]

Legally, the lady should pay. She owns the vehicle, she is not insured in this case, and she has no contract with the lad defining what would happen if he crashed.

Morally, I’m with those saying 50:50.

[MitchT]

50:50. She let him drive the car. He crashed it. Both bang to rights.

Anyone who thinks it's 100% her responsibility should remember that a 16 year old is deemed old enough to, among other things...

• Get married or register a civil partnership (with consent)
• Drive a moped or invalid carriage
• Consent to sexual activity with others aged 16 and over
• Drink wine/beer with a meal (if accompanied by someone over 18)
• Work full-time
• Join the Armed Forces (with parental consent)
• Leave home (with or without parental consent)
• Consent to medical treatment
• Pilot a glider

... so it's not like he's a naive child who doesn't know what he's doing.

[Smiljan]

She's 22 why are her parents getting involved?

[bad company]

Smiljan said:

She's 22 why are her parents getting involved?

Fair comment, maybe they paid for the car.

[Smiljan]

Maybe you're right, could be their car I suppose.

[NikBartlett]

If its deemed a publically accesible car park then several offences have been committed by both parties. Does the club management know ? would be interesting if the car park has CCTV. Was the tree damaged ? Now is she under obligation to inform her insurance company which would open up a large can of worms ?

[Peter911]

The lad who caused the damage should pay. It might even be covered by the parents household policy.

[Zarco]

MitchT said:

50:50. She let him drive the car. He crashed it. Both bang to rights.

Anyone who thinks it's 100% her responsibility should remember that a 16 year old is deemed old enough to, among other things...

• Get married or register a civil partnership (with consent)
• Drive a moped or invalid carriage
• Consent to sexual activity with others aged 16 and over
• Drink wine/beer with a meal (if accompanied by someone over 18)
• Work full-time
• Join the Armed Forces (with parental consent)
• Leave home (with or without parental consent)
• Consent to medical treatment
• Pilot a glider

... so it's not like he's a naive child who doesn't know what he's doing.

Very good, but who had control of the keys before anything happened? He's not a child but she's an adult.

I'd leave it to her to sort out. If he won't cough up he clearly wasn't much of a friend, and it will be a good life lesson for her. Sounds like she needs it.

[Wooda80]

Whilst he is clearly ready for some life lessons about growing up the 16 year old is still a child.

Whilst the 22 year old may not be fully independent of her parents she is still an adult.

Substitute "47 year old man allows 16 year old to drive car" into the situation and see what people's instincts are about who should pay for the repairs.

This is another one of those threads where the word deem / deemed / deeming crops up a lot.

I've not looked in the dictionary but from its context on PH forums I imagine that to deem is "to attempt to lend authority and credibility to an otherwise highly subjective opinion"

- I deemed the other driver to be at fault
- The Mercedes E63 is deemed to be superior to the BMW M5
- their offer was deemed unacceptable

etc

[Speckle]

I would say it is entirely her fault for letting him drive the car, when he clearly had little to no driving experience (given that he crashed it into a tree) and certainly no license or insurance!

However, he should be feeling guilty as hell for crashing and should feel compelled to make a substantial contribution towards the repairs.

Just how good is their friendship, given the 6 year age gap? Do they simply work together at the golf club?

[Shuvi McTupya]

I am curious what the golf club is employing children to do?

(in other words, I am disputing that he should be described as a 'child')

[untakenname]

If the gender roles were reversed I doubt the responses would be for a girl to pay for the damage when an older male let her have a go.

I would expect the 16 year to pay some towards it simply to avoid 6 points for no insurance, on the other hand I think maybe the driver would be liable for points as well for letting a minor drive.

If the damage is minor then perhaps go 50:50, if its a lot then perhaps the MIB would pay out.

[Jasandjules]

Legally or morally?

[pinchmeimdreamin]

Jasandjules said:

Legally or morally?

I wouldn't have thought either would want to go the Legal route.

That's why I said 50/50

[Shuvi McTupya]

untakenname said:

If the gender roles were reversed I doubt the responses would be for a girl to pay for the damage when an older male let her have a go.

Excellent point, well made.

The adult is legally responsible but if they can get the driver to pay up, fair play.