Seatbelt fine
Hi everyone, I am hoping to get some feedback on a situation. I want to start by saying, I will pay the fine that I was given, I just want to some outside perspectives.
I was driving my company car to Costco with my mum and toddler son down the M5. My son was being fussy so my mum went to hand him some food, she couldn’t reach him in the car seat (he was directly behind her) so she took off her seatbelt, gave him the food, she then immediately turned back and put on her seatbelt.
Apparently we have the worst luck in the world and that was the moment a camera caught us for her not having her seatbelt on. My company (I am the sole employee, I promise that I am not making a mint) got a fine for $2000+ because it was a company car.
I have the option to nominate a driver to reduce the fine to around $400 + 3 demerit points. My mum told me to put her as the driver so that she gets the fine.
Here’s my question/thoughts.
- Would it be reasonable at all to contest this fine? I genuinely had no control over my mum taking off her seatbelt, she just did it. I am always strict with people having to wear seatbelts in my car. Though I also acknowledge I am responsible so I don’t want to evade responsibility if that makes sense?
- I am happy (willing)to pay the money, it’s just the demerit points that bother me (I have a good driving record so I won’t lose my licence but still) - so I can just nominate myself.
- I assume it’s not legal to name someone as the driver who wasn’t driving but in this case her actions caused the fine even though she was just trying to settle my son so I can’t blame her. The money again is not an issue for her.
- Do I just have the company cop the fine? It’s a stupid amount of money (for good reason though)
What would you guys do? I would appreciate helpful feedback. Regardless of any justification I may have given in the text, I do want to do the right thing here and understand if I have any options or whether I should just take this as a learning opportunity.
Thank you in advance.