# A Snitch Ticket, a moral dilemma? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 7, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-snitch-ticket-a-moral-dilemma/552939 "2010-09-07T16:53:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![PBear42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PBear42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PBear42)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-snitch-ticket-a-moral-dilemma/552939/61 "2010-09-13T04:25:28Z")
How I would respond to the snitch ticket depends on three things: (i) Am I responsibile for the infraction even if I wasn’t the driver? (ii) Do I know who the driver was? and (iii) Am I interested in protecting that person? If the answer to the first question is yes, I’d either throw the driver under the bus and name him/her in my response (if I know who it was) or just pay the fine. If the answer to the first question is no and the answer to the second is also no, that’s what I would say in my response. If the answer to the first is no, the second yes and the third no, I’d throw the driver under the bus. If the answers are no, yes and yes, I’d respond with a letter which says I plead “not guilty” to the citation. Yes, it’s not actually a citation, but it pretends to be, so I can pretend too. In the last scenario, which presumably is the one in which the OP is interested, the question is what happens next. If I’m reading the highway robbery site correctly, what happens is that I get a letter askimg me to admit or deny I was the driver and, if I deny, to identify the driver. To which my response is to say I’m not saying anything (implicitly asserting the privilege against self-incrimination). I’m pleading “not guilty.” Then, someone, presumably the police, has to decide whether to issue an actual citation. Given the stated poor quality of the photograph, perhaps not. If they do, I contest that, again saying nothing except I plead “not guilty” and play out the process. According to the site, I probably win, but there’s no guaranty. To be clear, I know nothing about the subject except what I’ve read in this thread. And I notice, as has been pointed out, that the highway robbery site is about California law and the OP’s snitch ticket apparently was issued in another state. I’m just saying what I would do. ---
**Author:** ![Mozart1220](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Mozart1220](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mozart1220)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-snitch-ticket-a-moral-dilemma/552939/62 "2010-09-13T05:00:07Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > > [@Mozart1220](#): > > > > If you don’t want a ticket, don’t break the law > > except you didn’t break the law. someone else did. > > > [@](#): > > > > If you loan out your car, you are still responsible for what happens in it. > > not exactly. you’re responsible in tort for certain types of injuries inflicted by your car, regardless if you’re driving it or not, and this varies wildly by state. you’re responsible for civil infractions for improperly parked cars in most places. > > it’s not exactly a well-settled question whether the owner ought to be responsible for a user’s moving violation, though. would you accept responsibility if someone was caught speeding in your car (and I mean pulled-over caught)? would you gladly take the points and the hit on your insurance like the driver because, hey, if you didn’t want a ticket, you shouldn’t have broken the law? I have a teenager in the house, and if he uses my car and gets a speeding ticket, it’s the end of his driving privilages. I may not be LEGALLY responsible, but I take the responsibility upon myself for anyone using my vehicles, and so should everyone else. I believe there are many cases where responsibility exists beyond what the “law” actually requires. I understand that not everyone feels this way, nor are they required to. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-snitch-ticket-a-moral-dilemma/552939/63 "2010-09-13T05:04:00Z")
> [@Mozart1220](#): > > I have a teenager in the house, and if he uses my car and gets a speeding ticket, it’s the end of his driving privilages. I may not be LEGALLY responsible, but I take the responsibility upon myself for anyone using my vehicles, and so should everyone else. > > I believe there are many cases where responsibility exists beyond what the “law” actually requires. I understand that not everyone feels this way, nor are they required to. so anyone who gets a speeding ticket doesn’t get to drive no mo 😕 :rolleyes: what “responsibility” are you undertaking here, exactly? ---
**Author:** ![Mozart1220](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Mozart1220](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mozart1220)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-snitch-ticket-a-moral-dilemma/552939/64 "2010-09-14T19:31:35Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > > [@Mozart1220](#): > > > > If you loan out your car, you are still responsible for what happens in it. > > Where does this stop? What if I loan my car to a friend and (unknown to me) he goes out and gets drunk, has an accident and kills 32 people? Am I on the hook? > > Let’s have a crazy scenario where I can’t recall who the car was lent to but the above driver escaped from the accident and was at large? (And it could be proven that it was NOT me driving) > > Do I get 32 counts of vehicular manslaughter? I think it comes down to paying closer attention to who you loan vehicles to. It sounds like you have some interesting friends. I was actually in an accident a couple years ago, where some people in a borrowed car changed lanes in front of me before clearing the front of my car. I hit them, but they were still at fault. I have no idea of the details, but I had a check from the OWNER’S insurance company within two days. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-snitch-ticket-a-moral-dilemma/552939.md?page=3)