<p>Fendergirl,
I understand what you are saying. My kids don’t have anyone from their hometown attending their college so whoever they ride with or provide rides for is going to be somewhat out of the way. In fact, the person that my daughter catches rides with lives in Connecticut so we are off the direct way home for her. She usually spends the night and then heads out. And you are not weird, you are kind!</p>
<p>Yeah, not wierd at all. My son recently got a ride home and the driver really did not want to accept a dime. I told my son to insist that he pay for half of the gas (at a minimum). It is only fair, and it is very nice that the driver thought about my son. My son had to rely on someone with a car to come home b/c there isn’t any convenient public transportation available.</p>
<p>Thanks all, for the advice. I love the suggestion you gave, jmmom, about how to let the person know they’ll be expected to pay for gas. I will definitely share that with her. She will also post an ad on the “ride wall” at school and will write “share gas expense” to make sure riders know up front. I am happy to report that last evening, the boy gave my DD $20 towards gas.</p>
<p>You’re not “weird”, fendergirl. You’re very nice. It does cost you, the driver, money, though. Whether you’re going from point A to point B anyway, it still causes wear, tear and gasoline for your car. You are not profiting if riders give you money for gas … you are simply sharing the expense. Just because someone is without a car, that does not mean they should expect chauffeured service at no cost. Yes, I would much prefer my DD to have company on the long drive, but I don’t believe it is fair to expect the driver to foot the expense for everyone who benefits from the ride. </p>
<p>DD has invited five friends who don’t live in our area/state to come home with her in a few weeks. We certianly don’t expect them to pay her for gas … they are invited guests at our home.</p>
<p>splashmom, It is very nice of you to invite your daughter’s friends. My son was also invited for dinner at the home of a student who is local to the university he attends. I reminded him that he should not come empty handed. There were a group of 5-7 students invited, so my son said that he would ask if anyone was going to bring something. Nobody brought anything to the home. I just don’t get it. I guess that I am old fashioned, but I think that if you are invited to someone’s home for the first time, and it is for dinner, that it is polite to bring something like a box of cookies, candy, etc.</p>
<p>Glad your DD was offered some money afterall.</p>
<p>It is also not unkind to think a person should pay a bit for a ride…it is called being a grownup and being responsible</p>
<p>And maybe after 5 or 6 trips, you might think, hmmmm, at least they could offer</p>
<p>And if they are not willing to share the expense or even offer, they are not nice people and why would you want to drive around not nice people</p>
<p>splash, it would have cost me money on wear and tear and gasoline even if i just went myself… so therefore it was no additional expense for me to take somebody with. i mean, i’m sure if it got to be an excessive problem and it seemed like i was being used for rides home, then i may say something about it… Or if i wasn’t going home that weekend and somebody asked me if i would go home and give them a ride, then i’d expect them to pay for the gas since i wasn’t planning on it anyway.</p>
<p>does anyone have a response to my question on what if the driver gets a ticket for not making a complete stop at a stop sign. do all of the people in the car split the ticket?</p>
<p>I’m sorry I didn’t answer that earlier, fendergirl. I do have an answer for you. No, I would absolutely not expect anyone in the car other than the driver to pay for the ticket. Getting a ride home with someone isn’t illegal, but rolling a stop sign is. Unless someone says to the driver, “Hey, how 'bout rolling that stop sign!”, why would others be expected to pay? If my DD were driving home with several passengers and she were stopped for speeding, I would in no way expect the passengers to pay for her irresponsibility.</p>
<p>during freshman year of college a bunch of us went to a concert and we all pitched in gas money to the guy who was driving, and then on our way home he didn’t make a complete stop at a stop sign (he did pause and made sure noone was coming I guess it just wasn’t long enough to be considered a stop… it wasn’t like he rolled through it) and got a ticket for $110 and then he made a comment to all of us in his car about splitting the cost of the ticket and we refused to and he didn’t/wouldn’t drive us anywhere after that. (not like it mattered since it was a once and done thing and we all had our own cars anyway… we just were carpooling to the concert and we weren’t great friends with him…) It wasn’t my fault he didn’t make a complete stop.</p>
<p>on a side note, i just picked my car up from inspection and it didn’t take anything. YAY!</p>
<p>i know i’m the only one on here who feels that way, and that’s fine… just wanted to throw my views out there, which many of you know i love to do :)</p>
<p>I’m glad to hear your car passed inspection without a problem, fendergirl. The boy you speak of with whom you rode to a concert was irresponsible and very misguided in thinking the passengers in his vehicle should pay for his neglect of the law. You sound like a nice girl and your friends are lucky to have you.</p>
<p>My school had a ride board that was always busy with rides needed and riders wanted to every point in the US… It was always assumed the rider(s) would chip in for gas. I had a girl stiff me on a ride from madison to Denver. Later she happened to be my waitress at a restaurant in Madison. Revenge was sweet.</p>