Woman Asks if She’s a Jerk for Refusing to Drive Her Friend if She Wouldn’t Wear a Seatbelt
by Matthew Gilligan
Buckle up!
Click it or ticket!
Seat belts save lives!
How many times have you heard all of those sayings?
Probably a lot!
And some people refuse to drive other folks around if they don’t wear a seatbelt.
So did this woman act like a jerk?
Let’s see what the heck is going on here…
AITA for refusing to drive my friend while she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, even though it made her late?
“I (22f) joined a hiking group a few months ago to make some new friends. There, I met this girl named Reese (23f). We share a lot of the same interests and we became pretty good friends.
For the past month or so, Reese has been on the hunt for a new job since her current one has abysmal pay. She finally got an interview, but about 4 days ago, her car broke down and she had to take it to the shop. Because of this, she asked me to drive her to the interview and I agreed since her apartment and her interview site are both within 15 minutes of my apartment.
On the day of the interview (2 days ago), I drove to Reese’s building and she got in the car and everything seemed okay. However, when I was pulling out of the parking lot, I noticed she wasn’t wearing her seatbelt. Since I’m uncomfortable driving people without seatbelts, I asked her to put it on, thinking she just forgot.
But when I said that, she told me she doesn’t wear seatbelts. I immediately stopped the car and told her she needed to put it on and the car would not be moving while she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Reese got upset and said that her uncle died in a car accident because he got twisted up in his seatbelt and wasn’t able to get out of the car before it exploded, so she doesn’t wear a seatbelt for “safety reasons.”
I felt terrible for her, but I stood firm and said I didn’t want to get a fine for her not wearing her seatbelt. Furthermore, if we got in an accident and she got hurt because she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
Reese only got more upset and said it was only a 15 minute drive and the chances of us getting into an accident are so low, so it doesn’t matter. She also said she’s a grown woman and I can’t control what she does. I said that’s true, but I’m also a grown woman and I can choose whether or not I want to drive my car, and if she wasn’t going to wear a seatbelt, I wasn’t going to drive her.
We argued for a little bit more before I told her she can get an Uber if she feels so strongly about it. Reese called me an a**hole and got out of my car and I just left.
She later texted me and said that she ended up being late for her interview, and now because of me, she wasn’t going to get the job. I told her that all she had to do was put on a seatbelt and she made herself late. She responded that I wasn’t being understanding of her trauma and I’m a controlling bi**h.
So now I’m having second thoughts. I don’t know, should I have just bitten the bullet and driven her?”
Here’s what Reddit users had to say about this.
This reader said she’s NTA and that not wearing a seatbelt is no joke.
Another individual shared a horrible story about what happened when her friend didn’t wear a seatbelt.
And this Reddit user said it best…just buckle up, man.
Yeah, it sucks that this happened to her friend, but it’s not her car.
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