Car rental fees - who should pay?

[cicero]

morally speaking - your friend should have paid for the fine.

but - you were the one who rented the car, so that makes the whole thing *your* responsibility. And since it was your responsibility you should have left at the time you were supposed to leave , whether Lucy was ready or not. you say you didn't know how to get to the garage - again, as a driver, this was your responsibility to know where you were and how to get to and from. and since you did leave late - later than you had budgeted for - you should have texted for an extension at that point. It was clear at that point that Lucy had no idea of how important this was, and i wouldn't have left it to her to send the text. (I understand why you asked her to do it while you were driving, but i think you should have sent the text before you started the drive).

[Sophia]

... I didn't want to leave Lucy stranded; I could not just walk away. ...

This was where you went wrong.

Yes, you could have left her there.  Or, more likely she would have ran to catch up with you.

[Hmmmmm]

While I do think Raintree has some points, I don't think they are as cut and dried as she presented them.

Knowing where you parked your car:  If the OP parked in one lot, walked to the friends lodging and then they walked to a different place to dine, I can understand maybe needing help retracing your steps, especially on some college campuses.  While I would probably be able to find my car again, if on a time schedule I'm sure I would assume my friend would be able to navigate me back to my car a lot quicker.

Texting before driving off:  the OP had a passenger in her car who would be capable of sending a text.  I can understand being in a hurry to get started and thinking my passenger would send the text for me while we were on the road. 

The dawdling friend knew it was her fault they arrived back late.  But since it was only 1 min late she may have thought the penalty wasn't incurred.  If I was that friend I would want the driver to alert me about the late fee once she found out it was incurred so that I could reimburse the driver.

[gemma156]

I think that you should've given her a warning and then left to go on your way.  Then it becomes her problem to make her way home, incurring extra costs in the process.  Life lessons usually come with a little pain that helps in the understanding of responsibilities.  You already proved you were a nice friend by going out of your way to get a car and drive her, where she wanted to go.  I doubt that your friend will be equally as nice by doing the morally right thing, and owning up to her actions that caused the extra car fee in the process.

[LifeOnPluto]

I don't think you did anything wrong, or rude. And I think not knowing how to get back to the parking lot was is understandable, if you weren't familiar with the campus / area.

I also think that Lucy absolutely should have offered to pay at least half the fine. I don't think you would have been rude in asking her to pay half. Although, from your post, if sounds like Lucy probably would have refused.

Personally, I would have cooled my friendship with Lucy. You state that you're still good friends. Hopefully she's matured and is a bit more considerate these days!

[Raintree]

While I do think Raintree has some points, I don't think they are as cut and dried as she presented them.

Knowing where you parked your car:  If the OP parked in one lot, walked to the friends lodging and then they walked to a different place to dine, I can understand maybe needing help retracing your steps, especially on some college campuses.  While I would probably be able to find my car again, if on a time schedule I'm sure I would assume my friend would be able to navigate me back to my car a lot quicker.

Texting before driving off:  the OP had a passenger in her car who would be capable of sending a text.  I can understand being in a hurry to get started and thinking my passenger would send the text for me while we were on the road. 

True. She wasn't familiar with the area and it sounds as though she had no reason to believe that Lucy and Allison wouldn't get moving at the appointed time and walk back with her. Why wouldn't they? It was all agreed upon in advance.

And she had no reason to think Lucy might refuse to send a text. By the time she realized how tight they were cutting it, she had no time to stand there and send a text.

Was Allyson in on the importance of leaving on time? Because I'm wondering why Allyson didn't also jump up to say, "well, let's start walking back" as soon as it became apparent that the OP wanted to get going, NOW. What if the OP had asked Allyson directly to show her where the car was, regardless of what Lucy was doing?

I agree that yes, the OP could have left Lucy stranded. Lucy could still get home; it just would have taken her a LOT longer.