Me (F18) and my friends were out in the city with my car. We drove around and then we went to other friend’s garage, to get my car details fixed. Apart our mutual friend, there was my cousin with him (M17), he doesn’t have his driver’s licence. So, we drove to that location, and my cousin said that he will drive up the ramp, and when my car would get fixed he would drive it down. He also asked to drive a little bit with my car. I trusted him, because he has a lot of knowledge with cars, he has driven a car before multiple times.
It was night, the location we were at had gravel road, no houses, only stoned fences, but it was pretty far from them, so i thought nothing bad would happen. So i agreed, in the car there were my other friends ( F18 and F17). Apparently he drove away very fast and wreck-less (110km/h =68mph) , and then he crashed. My car was totally wrecked, airbags went out, glasses were shattered, the whole front and left side were totalled. I ran back to them and had a panic attack. I could have fixed the car with insurance, but i didn’t want to take the blame for something i technically didn’t do. I didn’t call the cops, i talked to my parents ( obviously they weren’t happy and calm about this situation) , but instead we decided he had to pay for everything, and it wasn’t even a lot ( only 1 thousand € ). He is very mad about this , he said it would be easier to tell the insurance i had crashed the car. AITA for not taking the blame ?
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Me (F18) and my friends were out in the city with my car. We drove around and then we went to other friend’s garage, to get my car details fixed. Apart our mutual friend, there was my cousin with him (M17), he doesn’t have his driver’s licence. So, we drove to that location, and my cousin said that he will drive up the ramp, and when my car would get fixed he would drive it down. He also asked to drive a little bit with my car. I trusted him, because he has a lot of knowledge with cars, he has driven a car before multiple times.
It was night, the location we were at had gravel road, no houses, only stoned fences, but it was pretty far from them, so i thought nothing bad would happen. So i agreed, in the car there were my other friends ( F18 and F17). Apparently he drove away very fast and wreck-less (110km/h =68mph) , and then he crashed. My car was totally wrecked, airbags went out, glasses were shattered, the whole front and left side were totalled. I ran back to them and had a panic attack. I could have fixed the car with insurance, but i didn’t want to take the blame for something i technically didn’t do. I didn’t call the cops, i talked to my parents ( obviously they weren’t happy and calm about this situation) , but instead we decided he had to pay for everything, and it wasn’t even a lot ( only 1 thousand € ). He is very mad about this , he said it would be easier to tell the insurance i had crashed the car. AITA for not taking the blame ?
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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> 1 – not taking the blame
2-he said it would have been easier for me to take it
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Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.
ESH
NTA – cousin is in the wrong on so many levels
I mean, you are responsible for letting an unlicensed person drive your car. Not reporting to insurance or calling the police really is to protect YOU from the crime you committed.
ESH
NTA. While you were foolhardy to turn your car over to an unlicensed driver, your cousin is 100% responsible for his reckless actions. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Your cousin needs to pay up, and you need to go forward never again turning your car over to an unlicensed driver.
Let your cousin be mad. He needs to accept full responsibility for what he did and not expect you to lie so he can avoid this responsibility.
Here’s the other thing: If you lied to your insurance company about who was driving, you could get prosecuted for fraud. That’s a criminal act and one you don’t want on your record.
YTA. You should have reported it to the insurance regardless of your fears and your cousin. In fact, when you sing the insurance contract you agreed to report any accidents. He should and could refuse to pay you guys anything.
ESH. Him for being wreckless, you for letting someone without a license drive your car
ESH
You should not have let an unlicensed person to drive your car. That is the root cause of the events, and it’s on you.
Your cousin should not have been reckless while doing it. The solution seems fair to me and your cousin is doubly TA for suggesting you commit insurance fraud to save some money.
I’m a little confused as you talk about the car being totally wrecked, the airbags deploying and front and left side but then suggest it is fixable. Really?
“I trusted him, because he has a lot of knowledge with cars, he has driven a car before multiple times.”
I’m afraid what this should say is “I trusted him because I am not very clever.” Never ever let someone drive your car who 1) does not have a licence and 2) is not covered by insurance.
ESH
ESH
You should never have allowed your cousin to drive the car unlicensed, YTA for that specifically.
For not reporting it to insurance, and especially not committing insurance FRAUD by claiming you were driving, NTA. Insurance would not cover an unlicensed driver, and you should not commit insurance fraud by claiming otherwise.
It sucks for your cousin that he will have to pay out of pocket for this, but it sounds like he was being reckless going that fast when she is unlicensed, and honestly pretty reckless to drive at all without a license.
And, even to play devil’s advocate, if you did do his idea and go through insurance, you still have to hit your deductible so he likely would still have to pay at least $500, if not the full $1000 depending on your deductible. And yet your insurance rates would go up costing you hundreds of dollars over the next couple of years. His idea, aside from being fraud, would not benefit anyone.
ESH — how the heck is letting someone without a license drive your car in any way acceptable? Yes he was reckless, but you enabled it. So both parties suck.
ESH
If I was your parent I probably not make your brother pay back the car. You need to be punished for allowing an unlicensed person to drive your car.
Your brother would definitely be grounded for a long ass time too.
Never loan out something you can’t afford to lose. You nta but you just learned a life lesson.