My best friend (let’s call him Jake) borrowed his cousin’s car to run a quick thing. He asked if I wanted to tag along and I said sure why not. Everything was fine until we were pulling out of a parking lot and he ended up hitting a parked car hard enough to cause some real damage to both vehicles. He hit their front bumper and some piece of it dropped on the ground. The thing is that he was checking his phone even though I literally told him to chill and focus a minute before the crash. I wasn’t hurt or anything, but I was right there in the passenger seat.
After the crash he started panicking and then immediately tried to downplay it when his cousin showed up. Said it was “just bad luck” and they drove away even though I told them to stop and leave a letter with a phone number on their windshield. I haven’t said anything yet, but it’s bothering me that he’s not owning up to how careless he was. I’m thinking of going to that same parking lot finding the cameras or at least talk with the parking guy and tell him who hit it because that could’ve been my car like what he did was incredibly shitty. Would I be the asshole if I did that?
My best friend crashed someone’s car yesterday and left while I was in the car with him. AITAH for planning to tell the owner of the other car who did it?
r/AITAH
Comments
Don’t be a snitch
I would say NTA but be prepared to lose the friendship because it is very clear your friend their cousins see it as YTA because they just left. It is an ethics question really, your ethics align with mine and I think NTA but your best friends don’t align with yours and that is what they just left.
it’s not ‘snitching’ when it’s a literal hit and run. he was on his phone too, that’s not just bad luck it’s straight up negligence. you should absolutely tell.
NTA
I would take action. People like your friend/cousin cause misery for everyone else.
Cool fake Jake story bro were fake Gemma and Emma 🤣
you’re NTA but i wouldn’t go out of you way to find the owner of the car he hit and prove that it was him. the insurance company will sort all of that out
I think it’s best to mind your own business. I understand you wanting to do the right thing but this isn’t about you.
This time it was just a parked car. What if it was a child?
NTA
Let ya cousin turn himself in. Don’t snitch . It’s not your responsibility it’s his.
Your friend is going to fuck YOU over & blame you for his crash, if you let him. Tell the owner of the car EVERYTHING that happened. You will likely need a new best friend, but consider that a bonus.
NTA
Isn’t it criminal if you don’t tell?
Kind of pointless now. The parking guy is not going to reach out to that person, unless they made a complaint or unless they come in regularly. You should have done it at the time.
Any other choice you make is being an accessory to a crime.
You don’t owe your friend loyalty if it means a criminal charge of any sort.
it is of course the right thing to do but at this point your friend doesn’t have an elegant way out of this. why don’t you suggest your friend invent a lie to at the same time do the right thing and also save face, suggest he leaves a note on the car, if it is there or finadable, “hey, my passenger said i hit you, i didn’t notice because we were just pulling out and the music was on but my passenger insists i hit you, i wish he told me at the time – sorry, we can work it out, i’m very sorry, please call at your earliest convenience.”
people aren’t necessarily vindictive if the person owns it, even with a bit of lying to contextualize to save face.
NTA. Was he insured to drive the car? That would at least be something.
I wouldn’t hesitate to ‘grass’ in this scenario. He’s been negligent behind the wheel – he’s lucky it was another car and not a child or something……always next time though.. think about it like that.
I hate to admit it, but I think your friend is the one who needs to own up to his actions before anyone else does for him… and if you’re not comfortable doing it, maybe consider talking to someone else involved, like the parking attendant or even the car owner directly. What do you think would happen if you approached them without revealing your connection to Jake?