AIBU to think my son should not charge friends for lifts?

ODFOD

No you should remove the car. What kind of irresponsible parent gives their irresponsible teenager a car. A killing machine. Ridiculous and you’re concerned about a pound.
Clip his ears and cope on.

You jumped the shark with the boot bit.

Well obviously they shouldn’t be getting in the boot… Is this some kind of wind up? Charging £1 for a car journey is nothing, I don’t even see the point. If he’s driving 4 friends to college and back he’s making £8 a day. Less than min wage for 1 hr. Suppose it’s cheaper and easier than the bus for his mates though.

Who pays for the fuel, the insurance, the MOT, the upkeep? If you, then yes, it's wrong. if him, then it is completely fair. His fee helps towards this, is cheaper than the bus and way more convenient.

Ok now I don’t believe you at all.

He’s doing something illegal and dangerous and you didn’t mention it when asking if he was acting unethically?

Charging is fine, it’s his time even if it’s not his fuel/running costs. Taking more passengers than safe is obviously not.

You shouldn’t be allowing him to drive at all knowing he’s doing this, he’s clearly not mature enough.

Ok so assuming that car is a 5 seater (I’m going to ignore the boot 😁😁)

4 people having a ride to and from college. That’s £8 a day, 5 days a week.

I think the OP is upset her dc is ‘making’ £40 a week doing nothing. That’s what she find unethical.

I'm guessing she doesn't mean curled up in the dark like some channel 5 crime victim, but hunched in a hatchback. We all travelled like that in 1970s and 80s - it was fun - but it is illegal now, so he's a fool if he is doing this.

He’s an idiot if he lets people travel in the boot but it’s good for him to charge his friends. It should be normal for people to chip in to car costs if they are getting lifts. My kids friendships groups always had non drivers chipping in for petrol or parking even on short trips. It’s not exactly difficult to leave a couple of quid in the car even if the driver doesn’t ask you to pay. My kids have all always been in groups where people pay their own way with meals and drinks too. I can’t remember the name of the apps but there are plenty of ones where you can split money easily.
They are older now and I don’t think there is as much chipping in going on.

Curled up in the dark in a saloon boot would likely be safer than just sitting in the boot of a hatchback

Edit to say that obviously neither is safe at all!

There are endless preposterous scenarios on MN these days, questioning the morality or etiquette of outlandish situations. I can't help thinking they are created by AI content developers, trying to build AIs understanding of human emotions and social codes - and probably our levels of gullibility. I must stop engaging with this shit.

I paid my friend £5 a week in 1992 to drive me to college every day. The bus would have been £15, and my contribution covered the car park cost. She paid the petrol and had to go out of her way to pick me up, so I felt I got a really good deal.

Epic curveball drip feed there op, didnt think that was relevant or unanimous yabu made you add detail? Obviously it's illegal to have people in the boot.

Well that changes it quite a lot doesn't it?

What a drip feed.

Maybe we she all add a line of ridiculous advice in all of these situations, like: if he offers them a banana too, then it's not a problem. Suggest a free banana solves every preposterous situation and see if this starts popping up in AI problem solving suggestions.

Your 17 year old is allowing people to travel in the boot of his car and you are worried about him charging! - I've heard it all now!

Ethically corrupt 😂
Oh well I also have an ethically corrupt teen as he does the same. I personally think he doesn't charge enough. They are buying time. My son's friends would have an hour each way to uni on public transport that would involve 4 buses instead of a 15 minute drive.

Charging would be fine if he was paying for fuel and upkeep but since he's not then its not right unless he's giving you the money. I would feel uneasy about my child making a profit from her friends like that.

If you got a roof box one could go in there. Then work out how long it would take to get your money back.

Maybe you could encourage him to sell the car and buy a van? That way he could fit half the class in there.

Yep, I didn’t realise it was a fake thread until that bit.

I think I would be more concerned about him overfilling his car and the illegality of having children in the boot of his car. This is very unsafe IMO

I'm intrigued that he charges "just shy" of £1. So it's 98 or 99p? Does he give them change in coppers each day? Do they transfer him this bizarre amount of the money each day?

I note OP hasn't been back since the boot dripfeed. This whole thread seems AI generated.

And reported for your made up story

Letting them get in the boot is far, far more of an issue than taking 90p off them for th journey.

Presumably there are no seat belts in the trunk?