Nanny car accident - should we help pay fines?
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Anonymous
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Our nanny had an accident in our car, which was undamaged and more importantly the pedestrian involved is ok, but the nanny was charged with two offences. She was clearly at fault and was devastated, particularly as the kids were with her in the car at the time - lucklly they were not hurt at all and seem ok emotionally. If she goes to court she can probably have the charges dropped to lesser offences and get her fines reduced.
She is a part-time live-in nanny and is not making a huge amount of money (she is also a part-time student). She already did a very small bit of damage to our car before when the weather was bad and offered to help pay to fix it but we said not to worry and that we will pay for it. The amount this will cost her just in fines will exceed one week's salary, and then her insurance will go up too. She has not been with us long and is otherwise absolutely fantastic and we are concerned that she will leave over this. If she doesn't want to drive our car anymore that is fine, and obviously it might be better if she doesn't! We can manage without a nanny who drives - this is a sacrifice we are willing to make in order to retain someone who is really awesome with our kids. So, opinions please - should we help to pay her fines/any court costs? Thanks in advance! |
Anonymous
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Maybe tell her you'll pay HALF the fines ONLY if she takes a defensive driving course (at her own expense).
People learn from their mistakes best when they're forced to pay for them. This needs to hurt her. |
Anonymous
| I would split it with her and not have her drive the kids anymore. |
Anonymous
I like this approach. I definitely don't think you should pay for all of it, and I would be a little concerned about her driving skills. |
Anonymous
Agree that this sounds like a good plan. She's a student, a good employee, and is remorseful. You want it to hurt, but don't want it to break her. |
Anonymous
| what really pops up from your post is that your nanny, in the short time she has been with you, has already had two cr accidents, one involving a pedestrian and for which she was at fault. you say you are OK if she does not want to drive anymore. I am just appalled that there is nowhere in your message that you will not let her drive, since clearly she is not a safe driver. anyway, as for you question, it really depends on the situation. if she did something really reckless and almost run over somebody, I would make her pay. she is lucky this time she can get out of it by just paying, maybe this will teach her a lesson and she will not kill soembody in the future. if she is at fault but she was not reckless, maybe I would consider paying half of it or more, it really depends on the fact. |
Anonymous
+1 I would suggest offering to pay half of the fine only if she takes a defensive driving course. I would also not allow her to drive your children any where until she's completed the defensive driving course. |
Anonymous
| No, you should not be paying her fines/court costs. This is her second accident in a short amount of time. Yes, it is going to cost her, but it was her fault. I would not let her drive your kids anymore. But you cannot help her pay for this. |
Anonymous
OP here - thanks for the feedback so far, it's really helped a lot. Re the above, I did say it might be better if she doesn't drive anymore. I'm still trying to figure this out. The thing is, she is an experienced driver with her own car, but it is smaller and she is more used to driving in smaller towns and on the highways, rather than in a big city. So I'm thinking that maybe we can offer to pay for a lawyer to represent her to get the fine down and some of the charges reduced/dropped, and set up a couple of sessions for her with a driving instructor in our car, to give her tips on how to handle our car and what to look out for in city driving. We haven't sat down and talked the whole thing out with her yet (happened last night), and my husband and I also have to agree on our approach. I think we will say that any further driving of our car in the future with or without the kids will be contingent on there being evidence that she can do so proficiently by having some instruction. |
Anonymous
| How much does she owe? |
Anonymous
We're not sure. It will be at least $400 for the main charge. But it's also important to get the other charges dropped or reduced (haven't looked at all the paperwork yet to figure it all out). So while hiring a lawyer might add to the overall expense, the end result could be better for her record/insurance. We're going to let her know that we value her and want to help with the financial burden somehow. While she is fully at fault as the driver, she wouldn't have been on the road if we hadn't asked her to be there, taking our kids back and forth to after school activities, so we feel some responsibility. |
Anonymous
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You should also be aware that the pedestrian's insurance may come after you after the fact for money if there were injuries. You are also liable since she was driving for work, so if her insurance doesn't cover whatever is awarded, they will come after you.
You may want to speak to a lawyer about this situation in full before you involve yourself in such a way that might be seen as either an admission of fault, or an attempt to avoid fault. |
Anonymous
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I'm a lawyer. Since she was driving your car, it will be your insurance rather than hers which is primary if the pedestrian makes any personal injury claim. You need to be aware that your car insurance may go up as well as hers.
And as a PP said, since the nanny was acting on your behalf at the time of the accident, you and your husband are personally liable for any injuries which are not covered by auto insurance. You need to report this to your auto insurer now. Theoretically, if you fail to do so and get sued in 2 years, they could disclaim coverage. |
Anonymous
| Last two PPs re the legal side of it: Many many thanks, I will definitely report this to our insurance company! We have also contacted a lawyer. |
Anonymous
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Besides the legal aspect, I would absolutely not allow her to drive your children. You say she's an experienced driver, well experienced drivers are comfortable commanding different types of vehicles and are able to drive safely in any situation. If she hit someone than 1. She was driving to fast, 2. She was not paying attention 3. She doesn't have the knowledge of how to drive defensively 4. She has low reaction time.
Any driver who is experienced can drive in a city even NYC, if they drive slowly, pay attention and have quick reaction time. You nanny does not, and the fact that this isn't a her first offense should be a huge warning sign. I almost hit a child who ran into the road because his parents weren't paying attention, luckily I was. He was two and I could barely see his hair at my wheel well. If I wasn't paying attention I could have killed him. If I was driving any faster, I could have killed him. Instead, I swerved out of the way, came to a complete stop and got out of my car. I reported the incident and called an ambulance just to cover my ass incase his parents tried to claim I hit him. Everything worked out fine but if it wasn't for me being an experienced driver who stays aware of her surrounds then this could have had fatal consequences. Also, I take a voluntary defensive driving course every time i start a new position to prove I'm proactive and a safe driver. These courses don't offer any actual driving instruction and is more of a six hour lecture about paying attention, not being under the influence and not using cell phones. If you ask your nanny to take this course, make sure she also pays from private driving lessons with an instruction who will teach her how to react in different kind of emergency situations. |