3 Dec 2010
Can my school make me hand my car keys into them during the working day?
Author: admin | Filed under: MotorsCan my school make me hand my car keys into them during the working day?
If I just park on the road outside (legally) and say I walked in (which would be the truth) is there anything they can do?
I am 18 and live in the UK so am legally an adult.
Any legal detail would be useful as I walked in today and they are trying to punish me for it!
Cheif – please allow me to e-mail you. That is a fantastic answer and I will explain the situation in full and hopefully get your advice.
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No. Why would they even WANT to take them? Why would it be against the rules? Why would you have to walk in?
simple answer NO they can’t
If you are parked on school property, they may ask you to leave your keys with them in case your car needs to be moved – for instance, it may be preventing a fire engine from getting through, and the school don’t want to waste time trying to find you to get the keys.
However, if you are parked ouside the school, on a public road, tell them to get stuffed.
You may not be legally forced to give them to them. However, as long as you are a student attending the school, you are bound to obey their rules – and if their rules say you must hand in your keys, you have to do it or face whatever consequences they decide.
You may consider yourself an adult, but the school legally has a duty of care whilst you are attending. What reason have they given for asking you to hand in your keys? Your comment about parking on the road and claiming you walked in is simply playing on words.
What reasons have they given for imposing this rule? Do they take teachers car keys (assuming they park in the same car park)?
I do not think there is a Law preventing them from imposing rules such as this but Im sure there would be little they could do if you parked off school premises and walked in though as the car is off their property and providing it is safely parked and not causing an obstruction on the public highway, not their concern.
I would have the following concerns over handing my keys over to anyone:
a) Will the keys be kept in a secure place with only senior staff having access to them? If not, I would be very wary about handing them over. Some insurance policies have clauses that you must keep the keys in a safe place. If the car is stolen because they keys are stolen from the school, some insurers could refuse your claim on the grounds that you willingly handed the keys over without checking they would adequately safeguard them.
b) What will the school use them for? If it is to simply make sure you don’t disappear halfway through the morning, they should be treating you more like the adult you are. If it is so they can move the car in an emergency/if its causing an obstruction, I would want assuring that they would be adequately insured & they would pay for any damage, and I would also be concerned that if they moved the car without my permission, they could be committing the offense of taking without consent (assuming you don’t give them permission)
c) Will they take full responsibility for the keys, ie sign for them every time you hand them over. If they did go walkabouts (even if only lost and not stolen) will you be able to prove that it was them who lost them.
I would never leave my car keys with someone I didn’t know and trust. Even a cheap car is still expensive property and knowing how well (badly) organised most schools and companies can be at times, I simply would not trust them with it.
Under section 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, you have the legal obligation to tell the police who was driving your vehicle at any point, if they so request to know in relation to any alleged offence. Failure to comply is a criminal offence carrying 6 points [and licence revocation for a new driver] and a maximum fine of £1000.
Additionally, if a school employee was not insured on their own insurance, and so much as moved your car, then you could also be convicted under section 143 for “permitting another person to drive your vehicle without insurance”, which carries 6-8 points and another large fine.
With this in mind, I certainly wouldn’t give my keys away in these circumstances. After all, if you’ve handed your key in, then how would you know whether anyone was driving your car at any given point during the day, who was driving [if anyone], and whether they were insured to drive your vehicle?
If you hand the keys in, you could be committing a criminal offence without knowing it, or meaning to. I would therefore refuse to comply, on the grounds that it could jeopardise your compliance with your legal obligations under sections 143 and 172 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.