17-Year-Old Niece Gets a $200 Ticket Driving Her 54-Year-Old Uncle's Car, 17-Year-Old And Her Mom Expect Uncle to Pay For it: 'She said it's my responsibility as an adult.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Aug 25, 2026 12:30 PM EDT

Why should the uncle have to pay for it if he wasn't the one speeding? 

You can't always trust people with your car. It doesn't matter how much they beg and plead: a car is not something that you should lend out to just anybody. You need to be able to trust that the person you're lending it to will bring it back in one piece. In fact, you should probably have higher standards than merely trusting that the person who is borrowing your car won't total it. If you think there is a chance that your sister will scratch your car, you shouldn't lend it to her.

I'm probably one of those people who shouldn't be trusted with somebody's car. My friend lent me her car in college, and I didn't damage it in any way, but I did get a speeding ticket while driving it. To be fair to myself, I didn't understand that people actually followed the speed limit on the highway in the Midwest. I'm from Texas, and anyone driving the speed limit on the highway is going to get run out of town, and deservedly so! Cops won't pull anyone over on the highway unless they're going more than 20 over. If they pulled people over for going 10 over on the highway in Texas, everyone would get a speeding ticket every day, and nobody would get to work on time. 

The uncle in this story lent his car to his niece, and she didn't get pulled over. She was speeding, and a camera caught her, found her license plate number, and sent the bill to her uncle. If I were her, I would have apologized profusely and paid the ticket with my own money, but she didn't. Instead, she and her mother insisted that her uncle should foot the bill, because it was his car. I would expect this kind of behavior from a teenager, but not an adult woman! The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. 

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  • 01
    Young woman driving white car
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A teenage girl driving her Uncle's car. 

    Representative only.

  • 02

    Am I the bad guy for expecting my niece to pay a ticket she got with my car?

    So i 54M have a niece 17F, she REALLY wanted to go out to some concert and she asked if i could lend her my car. She's used my stuff before and it's not like she was a new driver.
    via u/ReliefPretty5800
  • 03
    She came back later on and my car was fine. A week later i got a letter in the mail, apparently my niece was speeding and now i owe a $200 ticket as it's my car. I confronted her and asked her to at least help pay but she refused, saying that it was my car and i should be
    via u/ReliefPretty5800
  • 04
    responsible for it. I decided to go to my sister (her mom) and try to reason with her, but SHE sided with her as well. She started saying how she was a kid and it's my responsibility as an adult. I'm split now, a part of me feels bad and wants to bail her out, while the other half feels angry as i trusted her to be responsible
    via u/ReliefPretty5800
  • 05
    FYI: she didn't get pulled over it was a speeding camera :) hope this clears anything up!
    via u/ReliefPretty5800
  • 06
    guys_pm_urprettyface NTA. She doesn't get to use your car or anything in future.
    via u/guys_pm_urprettyface
  • 07
    Correct-Leading4068 This. The least she could do is be apologetic but she can't even do that. At least she has shown you her true colours this early on, don't let her borrow anything else.
    via u/Correct-Leading4068
  • 08
    Jaygon1963 And no birthday nor Xmas gifts. No graduation gift either.
    via u/Jaygon1963
  • 09
    ObiYawnKenobi You should specifically deduct the gifts from the $200 until the balance owing is zero. Give her a card on those occasions with the math written in it: $200 Speeding ticket - $50 birthday gift = $150 owing Happy Birthday!
    via u/ObiYawnKenobi
  • 10
    SnarkyUnicorn23 Please do this! Reminds her over and over that actions have consequences. She will pay for it after all. Never, ever lend anyone in her family anything!
    via u/SnarkyUnicorn23
  • 11
    96JMC You can see where your niece got the attitude from: your sister sounds like a joy. Obviously NTA.
    via u/96JMC
  • 12
    SheComes ThenSheGoes Lmao i was like you know who else is an adult and should pay for it???! Her frigging mother. OP you're NTA. If you can afford it, pay for it and never lend her stuff again. Also, how long has she been driving at 17? Thankfully the car and she came back intact but no more using it. She can use moms car
    via u/SheComesThenSheGoes
  • 13
    Pawistik Imagine what level of responsibility the neice would have taken had she been in an accident, damaged or wrecked the car, or worse injured someone. This child and her mother are not responsible enough to be in charge of anyone else's property, especially a vehicle.
    via u/Pawistik
  • 14
    Warrior_Princess_1 Go to court-explain the situation and see if you can get the ticket switched to your niece - who should pay the ticket - never lend anything to her again.
    via u/Warrior_Princess_1
  • 15
    SheComesThenSheGoes They might be able to drop the ticket down. They usually do but the fees never seem to go down lol also with ones using cameras, the ticket goes to the owner of the car because they cant tell who was driving and your car is your responsibility. Kinda like parking tickets.
    via u/SheComesThenSheGoes
  • 16
    Azdak66 NTA. You did not get the ticket. The car did not get the ticket. The person operating the car got the ticket and should pay for it. If I rent a car, and get a speeding ticket while driving it, the rental company doesn't pay the ticket. It will cause more drama, but, her being 17, you will have a number of opportunities—birthday, Christmas, graduation to recoup your loss.
    via u/Azdak66

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teenager teenage parking ticket teenagers bad parenting niece driving parenting speeding speeding ticket uncle ticket daughter mom money Parenting Fail
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