Who should pay?

[CountryVic]

Last month, 4 work colleagues were going in a work car to another office for the week. We were to meet at work for 7.30am and the drive was an hour, and we returned for 5pm. Two people were not able to drive, one has a frozen shoulder, and the other has not got a full licence (trainee) so the driving was left to myself and one other, let’s call her Sonia.
I drove every morning, and Sonia drove 4 of the 5 afternoons, all good. Until a speeding ticket arrived at work. My boss sent an email to all 4 staff advising as per policy that we signed when taking the car, this needs to be paid by the driver, so can we please confirm who was driving on Thursday afternoon at 4.36pm so they can update the details and have the ticket sent in the correct name and with licence details.
I responded to the email 2 days later when my manager called me to follow up, I had assumed Sonia had responded and taken ownership. I CC everyone in the email and confirmed Sonia was driving, but she replied saying she can't be sure and she thinks it was me! The other 2 staff said they think she drove, but it was a while ago so can’t be sure, so the manager had head office send the full ticket so he can see who the driver is. Of course it shows Sonia, we look nothing alike, but she still says she does not think she should be held fully responsible.
The ticket is $260 and Sonia is suggesting that we split it 4 ways paying $65 each and as we all benefitted from driving together. The other staff member with the frozen shoulder agrees that this is fairest, I disagree and have said no, I won’t be paying this.
On Friday morning I got an email saying this needs to be resolved on Monday, if we can not agree then we have to to attend a meeting with the manager and someone from corporate services as they oversee the work car bookings.
The manager has said it’s up to us how to handle it, reminded us we’re all one team, here for one another but I have said there is nothing to handle, the photograph shows Sonia driving, she should pay the fine, it’s a legal document and nothing to do with work at all. I am happy to go to the meeting and advise this.
The other staff member has put $65 in an envelope for the manager, the trainee has said she’s not got any spare cash until payday and could she pay it over a few pays, I have said there is no expectation for anyone by but Sonia to pay as she was the one with her foot on the accelerator!
Am I wrong here?

Sonia pays, it's not down to passengers how fast the driver drives.

The company have the proof that Sonia was driving so should only be dealing with her not the whole team.

Granted, she wouldn't have been driving if it wasn't a work thing but if I get a call to pick a friend up from the hospital for example, and then get a ticket, I don't then say my friend is responsible for paying it.

No, unless "Sonia" had her foot on the accelerator under duress from fellow passengers she is entirely responsible for breaking the law.
End of!

She should definitely be the one to pay. She agreed to drive. Nobody made her break the speed limit. The fine should deter her from breaking the limit again

You have an incredibly poor and weak manager trying to make you sort it out between yourselves. Your manager should be making the decision as per company rules and laws of the road.

It’s really not the managers place to do that. It’s the ops fine, but the other employees all feel they should chip in. Only the op disagrees. So the manager is going to mediate it out. But he or she certainly can’t say you’re not allowed t0 chip in or you have to. That’s not a weak manager, that’s one who knows full well they can’t make that decision. It would be a shit manager who thought they could. The employees aren’t children and th4 manager mum.

In which case email him with the relevant except from the policy and pretend to be understanding. A bit of "I know you're only trying to do what you think is right but this is the policy and therefore you don't see a further meeting is necessary.

Then consider "however should you wish to pursue this I'd appreciate enough notice to have a conversation with my union rep first".

Obviously he doesn't need to give you that time and he doesn't need to know whether you are actually in a union. But unions are actually there to be on your side. HR is there to be on the company's side.

Sonia and your boss are also lucky you aren't saying you can't car pool woth her anymore as you felt unsafe at work and want to log it on the risk/incident register.

Two can play that game. Make it awkward for you and you can make it awkward back.

Tbh I wouldn't even discuss it. The driver is responsible for speeding.

She was the driver - she pays - her fault.

If she was driving on her own in the car - she would have to pay it.

Why is it any different just because there are passengers?

Doesn't matter it's a work thing / going to the same place / sharing driving.

She had her foot on the gas - she was speeding - she pays

when Sonia suggested splitting the manger should have immediately shut her down as per the policy that the driver is responsible not put the team on the spot. I’d go to a higher manger

Good one- you don’t want to risk your life woth an unsafe driver! I’d say this after she tried to blame you!

In the UK, if it's a first offense you do the course costing £100 OR take points. Not both. But none of it can be shared. Sonia should pay.

I think it became a management issue when the OP said no to contributing and the conversation didn't end there.

It's not appropriate for Sonia to be pressuring anyone to contribute to her fine.

The manager should be pointing out that the policy is for the driver to pay any fines and not to ask or expect your passengers to pay them for you.

This is batshit, of course the driver should pay. Stick to your guns, your manager needs to lead and not shy away. You were not in control of the driving speed. And it's bad she denied driving when she knew it was her.

In the UK, if it's a first offense you do the course costing £100 OR take points. Not both. But none of it can be shared. Sonia should pay.

What difference does that make though? What happens in other countries doesn't matter.

I used to do a lot of driving for work with fleet cars and sounds like we had the same process you do - the person driving would always be expected to pay the fine, there would never be any expectation the passengers should pay towards it!

If the passengers wanted to contribute they could of course pay the driver back and I might understand if some of the people who didn't drive at all offered to do this, but not you, who did the majority of the driving (and unlike Sonia drove appropriately!)

I would absolutely refuse, and even more so because the cheeky cow tried to get out of it.

When you say there's a handbook, does it specify that any ticket/fine will be paid by the driver? If so, I'd ask the manager why he's recommending you go against company policy? If there isn't one I'd ask HR about getting that put in! I'd also say that I'm not willing to be fined for someone else's bad driving again so from now on I'll only be taking public transport or driving myself to work events, and not taking passengers. I'd honestly be tempted to put in a complaint about the manager bullying you into doing something so inappropriate too.

If Sonia had caused an accident would you all be expected to share her prison time too?

It should be logged down every time someone drives a Company Car. Your workplace needs to implement this. There may have been a few of you but she was driving. If she had a bump, would she be saying it’s on all of you? Who would she try to pass this on to if she was going to a meeting alone.

I think it’s unreasonable for your place of work to expect you to resolve this between your selves as they have the proof of who was driving and as a company, they MUST provide the drivers details. You can’t split any points she may receive so why should the fine be split.

Sonia is the driver, she’s taking the points. Fine.

However, I can see how this feels like a massive smack in the face for her though. She’s working to earn money, she’s done more than her fair share of driving (injury/trainee reasons are irrelevant - those are not Sonia’s problem or responsibility - but nevertheless it’s something that was put on her to sort out - by the fact that she’s done more than her 25% share of the driving).

I think a contribution from others would be reasonable. Not a full 25%, smaller I think. Just an acknowledgement that the injured person and the trainee have both benefitted from sitting back as passengers whilst Sonia drove after a day’s work. Particularly as the infringement (if it’s 12kmph on a 100kmph road) is a little over 10% so not obscene.

She’s working to earn money, she’s done more than her fair share of driving (injury/trainee reasons are irrelevant - those are not Sonia’s problem or responsibility - but nevertheless it’s something that was put on her to sort out - by the fact that she’s done more than her 25% share of the driving).

Then the company should have a back up plan. They shouldn't have trainees who can only drive with one passenger and if an employee is injured and can't drive they should sign them off or arrange for a taxi or similar.

Sonia's got some neck on her, I'll give her that!

The manager should make it 100% clear that it is Sonia's responsibility to pay the fine. If the others then want to transfer money to Sonia that is between them and Sonia and nothing to do with the manager.

If this were England then Sonia would be legally responsible for paying the fine.

Yes indeed, but I think the OP’s question is a moral one.

Of course Sonia should pay! I once got a fine for accidentally driving in a bus lane when my friend was a passenger with me, didn't even cross my mind to ask her to pay half!

Sonia should pay, it was her fault for speeding.

If it was a parking ticket I’d be more inclined to split it, but not a speeding ticket as that’s not the passengers fault at all.