'AITA for pretty much telling my friend 'I told you so,' after he got in a car crash?'
"AITA for pretty much telling my friend 'I told you so,' after he got in a car crash?"
I (19M) am the only one with a car, so I was the one driving everyone around. I had a set of rules that everyone had issues with, such as: seatbelts (at the back too), no eating/drinking (water excepted), no distracting me (they would often try shoving their phones to me), and no blocking my blind spot by sitting weirdly (I don’t care if my car has blind spot monitoring; I prefer to check manually).
Everyone constantly grilled me for my rules and made fun of me for following the law. Yes, I admit I miss my exit a quarter of the time, but I won’t cut off other drivers or reverse just to save few minutes (an actual suggestion from them).
One of my friends even said, “If I had a car, I wouldn’t drive like a grandma like you. You suck at driving.” Suffice to say, I was relieved when one of my friends finally got a car and could be the group driver. At first, everyone roasted me in group chats and in real life, raving about how much more fun it was now that I wasn’t driving.
Five months after getting his license and car, my friend told everyone in the group chat that he’d been in a car crash and his car was totaled. He shared the dashcam footage and genuinely thought he wasn’t at fault, calling the other driver a “dumb typical female driver.” The footage showed him going 75 km/h in a 50 km/h zone on a blind curve.
The other driver was turning right, and he hit her at full speed. Instead of braking, he honked. For some reason, neither he nor the other driver got a ticket. I told him in the group chat that he was probably at fault, considering he was going 50% over the speed limit, on a blind curve, and just 100 meters from a 40 km/h school zone.
Even if he had the right of way, insurance would deem him at fault due to his speed and slow reaction time. I told him not to send the footage to his insurance company. Of course, everyone in the chat called me a dumba-s, and one of them said, “Bro, I live near that neighbourhood. My brother goes 80 on that street; everyone does. That lady was the idiot.”
Since the cop didn’t ticket him and the group chat supported him, he sent the footage to his insurance company.
He was so confident that he started asking for suggestions on what new car to get once he received a “fat paycheck.”
Everyone got hyped and started browsing Auto Trader. A week later, he got the verdict from his provider: he was deemed 100% at fault. He also had the cheapest insurance plan, so his insurance company paid nothing to him and only covered the other driver. Even if they had paid him something, he wouldn’t be able to afford insurance with his record as a young male.
In the group chat, I responded with, “Lmao, now you know why I drive like a ‘grandma’. Enjoy taking the bus. /s.” Everyone in the chat reacted with “damn” and the startled face emoji. He replied, “Rules are meant to be broken; I’m not a stickler like you. Everyone gets into a car crash.”
Commenters had a lot to say in response.
bamf1701 wrote:
NTA. He was at fault. And between the "dumb typical female driver" and "Rules are meant to be broken," I'm thinking that this was not just a crash - it was karma (pun intended). I just hope, when he gets another car, he doesn't hurt someone.
In any case, this was a very clear case of a deserved "I told you so." But, I guess that you are back to being the group driver again.
OP responded:
Nope, I ain't driving anyone again lol. We all take public transport now.
Scenarioing wrote:
Well, at least he wasn't mad. NTA. The rules of the exist for a reason. BTW, the rebuttal to “Rules are meant to be broken; I’m not a stickler like you. Everyone gets into a car crash” is that the ones who break the rules people are the ones deemed 100% at fault for it.
Of course this guy is an AH. He can easily k-l someone. Would would he and these people say then? Why are you even freinds with this guy?
2Blunt4MyOwnGood wrote:
You warned him. He f'ked around and found out. Also, I'm glad he didn't hurt the lady who was making the turn. It could have been much worse.
NTA. He deserved the "I told you so."
FieldBuddy wrote:
NTA. You warned him about both his driving habits and the insurance situation, and he chose to ignore you. It’s frustrating to watch someone learn the hard way, especially after they’ve mocked you for playing it safe.
While your "I told you so" moment might have stung, it seems like it was more about making a point than rubbing it in. He needs to take responsibility for his actions, and maybe this will be a wake-up call for him. Sometimes, tough lessons are the most effective.
TheFlyingMunkey wrote:
Something is wrong when you need to set rules for passengers in your car for the most basic things. If they need to be told to not distract you whilst driving and to not block your blind spots then they shouldn't be entitled to get into your car at all.
I've been driving for years and have never once had to tell a fellow adult passenger to not distract me. If I'm trying to see in a blind spot the passenger(s) move for me regardless of if they're actually in the way or not. They understand that safety in a car is the number 1 priority. NTA and you desperately need new friends.