When do you rat out a friend, if ever?

[NotSoNimble]

Let me just say that I know a guy who knows a guy......

He left the guys place drunk, and caused considerable damage to a neighbors car not far from the dudes house.

The guy claims (he never takes responsibility for anything) another car almost ran him off the road, so he swerved left and hit the innocent car parked on the street. In America, we tend to drive on the right side of the road.

The original guy who lives close to this learned about it, and feels bad since he has driven past this 'accident' the last few days.

Needless to say, the guy who caused the damage hit and ran.

'The Guy' isn't about to call the police, but feels bad. The other guy has no intention of doing anything close to 'the right thing'.

So I say: If you feel guilt even though you weren't the one who caused the problem, you might feel this guilt forever if you don't rat out your friend.

What say you people who read this?

EDIT: If you can't follow what I said, please ask, I will explain more. I really want some opinions tho either way.

EDIT: If I ever knew someone to kill, rape, molest, or extort another, I would rat on them in an instant. I would probably beat the shit out of them first. Or at least try to.

EDIT AGAIN!!!!! Thanks for taking me seriously guys, I have been know to be a total ass on this site, yet those who post on my thread have not been. I guess it goes to show that people can be civil here, even when I haven't always been so.

That being said, I guess the only question for me is, which means more, doing the right thing, or keeping a friend. Thanks for helping to put it all in perspective.

I still don't know what to do, but everyone is helping me make a choice, so thanks again.

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

Yes..report the idiot and the guy who caused the accident.

 

[Betancore]

I usually wouldn't tell on a friend, but in a situation like that, I would. What kind of person doesn't take responsibility for his actions like that? The person who owns that car that got ruined, you may not know them, but they did nothing wrong. This guy, on the other hand, did. And if he's not going to own up to it, then I'd just go ahead and tell the police.

If the guy who crashed into the car felt at least a little bit bad about it as well, I'd reconsider, but if he really has no intention of doing the right thing, and doesn't even feel guilty about it, then I wouldn't hesitate to call the cops on him.

 

[Serenegoose]

In all honesty, I'd do nothing. I'd be too worried about the fallout to act. Cowardly, I know...

 

[Sneaky-Pie]

Isn't that a felony?

That's pretty serious. I would certainly consider it.

 

[Tdc2182]

I wouldn't tell on him. But I certainly wouldn't let him be a pussy about it either.

 

[enzilewulf]

I would rat out for that yes.. but like "Ohhh who stole Mrs.Jones pie?! then no. But yes in that situation I would.

 

[IHateDaManSkirt]

I probably wouldn't tell on my friend, but pressure him into turning himself in or at least admitting he was drunk. It would depend on the damage to the person's car and general financial status of both parties. Then again, I'm morally fucked up with this stuff.

 

[SimuLord]

The only time I'd ever rat out a friend would be if he did something egregious, like when I turned in my (now former) 19-year-old friend for having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl. I didn't care that he didn't want to be my friend anymore---he was a fucking child molester and I was tempted to kill him myself. (the girl was unrelated---I didn't know her beyond when my former buddy introduced her to me.)

 

[TheTurtleMan]

I'd probably give him a fair warning that he could either do the right thing on his own or I would turn him in after a couple days. Whenever someone commits a felony like that, all bets are off in my opinion.

 

[Stryc9]

Seriously, turn his ass in, someone needs to grow up and learn to take responsibility for their actions. Depending on the amount of damage he did to the other car it could end up being quite expensive to have fixed and no matter how much damage he did he should be responsible for paying for it.

At this point the DUI charge is moot since there's no evidence of it though so he's off the hook for that.

 

[Levitas1234]

So I say: If you feel guilt even though you weren't the one who caused the problem, you might feel this guilt forever if you don't rat out your friend.

Never rat out your friend for your own feelings, you should be able to take a lot more for a friend.

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

I don't rat my friends out. In fact, it's one of the few times that I find it acceptable to lie, is when I'm fibbing to save a friend's ass. There are certainly times when it's clearly unethical to do so, but, well, that's just the kind of friend I choose to be. I don't consider it to be right or wrong, because it's just one of those honor before reason [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HonorBeforeReason] kinds of things.

 

[FaceFaceFace]

Yeah that's pretty bad. I never consider friendship a reason to let people get away with doing bad things though.

 

[Steppin Razor]

Well, it all depends on how good a mate they are and if the guy that got his car wrecked has insurance. If we're not good mates, and the guy with the wrecked car doesn't have insurance to cover the cost of repairs, then I suppose I probably would turn him in. A good mate would have to have done something pretty bad for me to consider turning them in.

 

[Dogstile]

Well damn, i'd at least get him to leave a note.

I would never report a friend for anything that could get him jail time unless its something serious, like rape or murder.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

Report it Anonymously? The biggest fear with that problem is if your friend finds out, so just don't leave a paper trail. If you feel guilty enough about keeping the secret, then you probably should talk about it.

 

[Steppin Razor]

I don't rat my friends out. In fact, it's one of the few times that I find it acceptable to lie, is when I'm fibbing to save a friend's ass. There are certainly times when it's clearly unethical to do so, but, well, that's just the kind of friend I choose to be. I don't consider it to be right or wrong, because it's just one of those honor before reason [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HonorBeforeReason] kinds of things.

What would you do if one of your mates turned out to be a rapist/pedophile?

Just asking, 'cause this is pretty much where I stand, but with the exceptions above where I'd probably end up in prison myself after attempting to murder them.

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

What would you do if one of your mates turned out to be a rapist/pedophile?

Just asking, 'cause this is pretty much where I stand, but with the exceptions above where I'd probably end up in prison myself after attempting to murder them.

If they cross an intolerable boundary (such as rape/child molestation), I no longer consider them my friends. I might be flexible on murder as long as you can justify it to me, though.