Drunk teenager- punishment or not?

I think it’s good for her to learn to drive as it is an important life skill and might be necessary for working.
however, I wouldn’t be linking it to this incident and she wouldn’t be driving when drinking anyway and she should be able to go out and have a drink and not be made to feel like she has to drive as she knows how.

Agree. You chose to live somewhere where it’s more challenging despite not driving, it’s fair enough that you occasionally cover taxis for her.

I can't believe a taxi for a 5 minute journey cost £60, but whatever.

You and DP need to learn to drive for a start. I can't imagine not being able to go and get my children if they were in trouble. It's ridiculous that you can't drive.

Her hangover will be punishment enough for her.

EDIT: Also, just realised the ridiculousness of what I've said. Punishment? She's an adult! You don't and can't punish adults for goodness sake.

Well we don’t know if she drives or not. That’s irrelevant as she had been drinking.

She wouldn’t be able to afford a car and her parents don’t have one either. So yes, it’s op’s ‘fault’ that there is no car available. As for her being able to drive I can’t answer that question.

It was a mistake, she missed her bus stop. Obviously because of your location that's a very expensive mistake. But if it was a kid in the city missing your stop would only divert you by a few minutes. These things do happen.
You should tell her she can pay you back for the taxi in installments once she's got a job. And tell her if it happens again she'll need to pay her own taxi. Or walk. But I wouldn't be reading her the riot act over it. Paying back the fare is enough of a consequence I think.
On a side note, could she not have got a taxi from the village where she was waiting at the pub? I guess maybe there was no closer taxi firm?

Don’t punish her. She’s 18, she’s learning how to handle alcohol .Most of us have been there at some point.
just be glad she is safe

Stupid thing to do but we’ve all been there. I wouldn’t punish her. Chalk it up to experience. Better that she rang you and got home safe than put herself in danger.

if you live so rural tho I think you should learn to drive.

Well she doesn't drive either-is that Op's fault?

but this IS the first time. I'm sure if OP has said it had happened multiple times the responses would be very different.

“show me one person who, at one time of another, has not got very drunk”

(points to self)

I think the daughter should pay back the taxi fare.

This. Having no car is beyond your dd’s control and to have not run into issues until now is really good going. She is clearly a resourceful and self reliant young woman. No way would I punish your dd or even expect her to pay for a taxi. This is something incredibly minor in the scheme of things. If you didn’t want to have the occasional issue around lifts / taxis as parents it is essential to live in a well connected area or drive.

She’s an adult, you can’t punish her with chores! 😂 you can however tell her to take responsibility by paying back the taxi money once she has a job.

She pays for the taxi either in actual cash or by doing extra stuff around the house.

I'd say she owes you £30 and an apology but that's it really

She is an adult do you and your husband get punished too? Are you aware she's an adult.

I'd let her have this one guilt free as a one off.

She's 18, learning her drinking boundaries.

And you want to have a relationship where she's not scared to contact you for help if it did happen again

Learning to drive won;t help if she goes out for a drink unless her and her friends all share and have a designated driver (not drinking that night ) and do a rota of who does it thiis time and drops everyone at home .
Or you run the risk of her drinking and driving .
It would be in her interest to learn to drive for day-to-day life .

I spend my teenage years in a rural location, then moved to a big city (much better)
I tell my DC how lucky they are where we are , night buses , taxis etc , if need be I will collect them

She’s £18? She’s owes you the taxi fare and that’s it really. You can let her know your annoyed, the money, embarrassment and hangover will work better than any punishment.

I have boys but we have always said that if they can’t get home then we’ll cover a taxi no matter what. They’re always pretty responsible but there’s always a chance things can go wrong (losing their mates, getting wasted)
And we live in a town with a lot of instances of drunk lads falling in to the river so we want to make sure they’re getting home safely.

We’re slightly rural but there are reliable taxis luckily.

I think particularly with girls and you not driving, there needs to be an agreed safety net of a taxi covered in case of emergency. It’s expensive but I’m sure she’ll help cover the cost when she can. She definitely doesn’t need to be punished though.

When i saw rurally we are actually only 3 miles from town but out of the 5 taxi companies I phoned only 1 would come out even though I offered to pay anything.

We had to go back to where I grew up for funeral - lack of taxi - we had to phone 4 and tried 3 ranks in the town all empty before we got one.

The price were a huge shock.

We've got used to several reliably companies here with apps so you can track the car coming and on journey.

DS missed his stop from college - perfectly sober but reading a book on bus - and ended up in nearby city due to bus he got - there one more stop then down motorway. He got back under his own stream due to good transport and time of day. He learnt a valuable lesson - I image your DD has as well but she did put herself at more risk with the drinking - just need to talk though how to avoid in future and be very thankful she met some decent people who helped her.

She’s 18 and got drunk - I don’t think she should be punished for that.

However get her to pay you back the £60 (or half) or deduct it from whatever allowance you give her if you want her to have some consequence for costing you money.

My Dad used to punish me if I got drunk or called needing to be picked up. It resulted in me never sharing with my parents and getting into situations I would not wish for my daughters. My girls are only small, but when the time comes nothing be will be too much trouble to ensure their safety, mental health and our relationship remains solid. Hope this helps xx

She needs to pay back the taxi money and a strong conversation about keeping cash/money on a card to make sure she can get home safely in future my kids always have money stashed in their phone cases for emergencies plus my number written down in case of their battery going

She's 18, she's a very young adult who made the legal decision to drink far too much and will presumably wake up embarrassed and hungover. Apart from owing you £60 for the taxi, I'd let it go.