To help make ‘sharing a ride’ a pleasant and relaxed experienced for everyone involved, it might be worth you and your car pooling friends or colleagues to consider the following matters:
Punctuality
Decide as a group how long the pool will wait for a passenger who is not at designated pick up spot at the designated time. (The usual waiting time is 5 minutes after the pick up time.)
Cost sharing arrangements
If the members of your car pool do not share the driving equally, come to an understanding of how the costs will be shared and agree on payment dates. Those paying a driver for fuel costs etc should be considerate of these arrangements and pay promptly.
Establishing some ground rules
Smoking, music, food, drinks and so on. Discuss up front possible irritants among the group for example, some people may be sensitive to strong perfumes or colognes, etc.
Drawing up a schedule of drivers
If all members of your car pool alternate driving, decide among yourselves if you want to alternate on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
Driver responsibilities
These would include driving carefully and keep the car reasonably clean, in good repair and filled with enough fuel for each trip. There should be no excuses for excessive speed, use of alcohol, or reckless manoeuvres.
Setting up a line of communication
If a driver is ill, or will not be going to work one day, an alternate driver should be notified to ensure that other members or the car pool will have a ride. If a passenger is ill or will not be working, the driver must be contacted as soon as possible to let them know. Ensure everyone has a copy of home, work or cell phone numbers.
Discuss between yourselves other matters in the initial stages of organising the car pool
These might include avoiding side trips on the way home unless agreed to prior to the day, or how to address situations such as if one person is frequently disrupting the smooth running of your car pooling arrangements.
Insurance
As long as car pooling is for the mutual convenience of participants and not for direct profit, there are no problems with insurance as long as passengers are covered by compulsory third party insurance. Your own vehicle is your own insurance responsibility. You may wish to call your insurance company for added peace of mind.