Man issued speeding ticket while driving pregnant wife to hospital (Denver: law, legally)

[Podo944]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

IMO the officer(s) showed poor judgement. The patrol car should have led the way, with lights flashing and/or siren sounding, while the officer had the dispatcher call ahead to the hospital for assistance to the couple upon their arrival at the hospital.

I agree with this!
It's only natural for a husband to want to get his wife to the hospital as quickly as possible, as long as he wasn't driving recklessly.
Same goes if a kid broke an arm and was in terrible pain. A parent doesn't have to wait for an ambulance if they can get in the car and go. You'd want to get your crying kid there quickly.

Some police are just jerks.

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by KaaBoom

He was sighted for driving 11 miles over the speed limit. Which is close to the speed the majority of people drive in none emergency situations. You expect him to drive slower then the flow of traffic, while rushing his wife to the hospital?

It doesn't matter in these Colorado forums. When you talk traffic on these subforums you'll find the perfect law-abiding citizens on here browbeating every inch-per-hour that you drive over the speed limit. They have no concept of what flow of traffic is.

I've never had to drive a pregnant woman to the hospital yet so... I'm going to withhold my personal judgement for the moment.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by TechMike

I see. So who determines when the benefit outweighs the risk?

Hopefully a police officer with good judgment. Otherwise a judge or jury.

Could I argue, that in a case of me speeding to get to work on time, that the benefit of speeding outweighs the risk?

Personally I don't have a problem with that. Especially if you are late for work and are driving just 11 MPH over the speed limit. 99.99% of all drivers do that including myself.

I think speeding should be made a secondary traffic offense. The police should only be able to pull you over for it if they see you commit another traffic offense. Examples: reckless driving and speeding, driving too fast for conditions and speeding, improper lane change and speeding, driving while distracted and speeding, following too close and speeding. The police should be looking for bad drivers. Not someone who is just driving a little fast because they are late for work. Otherwise they are not doing it to promote safety, but rather to raise revenue.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by Podo944

I agree with this!
It's only natural for a husband to want to get his wife to the hospital as quickly as possible, as long as he wasn't driving recklessly.
Same goes if a kid broke an arm and was in terrible pain. A parent doesn't have to wait for an ambulance if they can get in the car and go. You'd want to get your crying kid there quickly.

Some police are just jerks.

I agree too. I think these cases show a clear need for special speed limit exceptions for anyone driving to a hospital due to an emergency. In these cases the cop should be required to take the persons drivers license and follow them to the hospital with their lights flashing. Then leave them their license and a report to fill out explaining the emergency. If they fail to fill out the report and send it in with in 10 days, a ticket could then be issued to them at that time. Otherwise that would be the end it.

When you have people rushing to the hospital in varying states of hysteria, thats not a situation where you want to have police officers trying to interact with them on the side of the road. Thats not a good situation for anyone involved, including the cops. You never know how someone might react to a situation like that.

[indy_317]

11MPH over the speed limit is nothing, millions do that every single day in this country. Excessive speed, running red lights/stop signs, etc. are what are dangerous. The guy who got off doing 120, that is sickening. I don't care if it is 3AM, 120 is really pushing it. Seriously, how many times do people drive their own personal vehicle at 120 on the roads? The chances of survival if one crashes is about zero at that speed. So we have people who, in an attempt to save a buck, think they have a right to drive a triple digits, run red lights, and blow through stop signs, to "safely" get their wife who is in labor to the hospital. Talk about stupid.

As far as cops giving escorts, no way. The liability is way too great. For starters, most smart cops aren't going to do 120MPH, even on the interstate at 3AM. So the driver is already going to be pissed that his 120MPH is now reduced to a mere 80-90MPH in the escort. Plus you have an untrained driver who isn't used to running in an emergency situation. If funeral escorts ran at 80-90 MPH, then I would say folks likely have some experience with this, but they don't, so the concept of going through intersections and slowing for turns isn't something they are used to. Also, the smart cops are usually going to slow way down, if not stop, at intersections where they have a red light or stop sign, which again will only delay and likely cause confusion to a person who was just blowing through intersections at 120MPH. The liability is too great to give emergency escorts in situations like this.

[indy_317]

Originally Posted by KaaBoom

In these cases the cop should be required to take the persons drivers license and follow them to the hospital with their lights flashing.

Lights flashing don't change the laws of physics, despite the belief of some. I don't know many officers who would be comfortable following someone doing 120MPH, or even 60MPH through city streets, blindly blowing through red lights and stop signs. That is what a lot of people are doing if you read the many examples of this on-line.

Originally Posted by KaaBoom

When you have people rushing to the hospital in varying states of hysteria, thats not a situation where you want to have police officers trying to interact with them on the side of the road. Thats not a good situation for anyone involved, including the cops. You never know how someone might react to a situation like that.

Yet it is totally acceptable to let hysterical people drive thousand pound pieces of metal at 60-120MPH, blindly run through intersections, to get to the hospital? And officers should feel safe giving such people escorts, traveling in close proximity of a hysterical drivers?

[Harrier]

Originally Posted by TechMike

I see. So who determines when the benefit outweighs the risk?

A jury did - in the case that another poster cited. Are you advocating for the abolishment of juries?

http://www.city-data.com/forum/24665354-post7.html

[Harrier]

Originally Posted by indy_317

. Plus you have an untrained driver who isn't used to running in an emergency situation.

How do you know that the driver is untrained?

[Dorthy]

I don't think a police escort would be necessary in this case but the cop should have just let the driver go with a quick and simple verbal warning so that the couple was not delayed further. 11mph over the speed limit is not excessive nor unusual in Denver.

[stan4]

Originally Posted by KaaBoom

It was an emergency. He was taking his wife to the hospital to have a baby.



Did you read the article? He didn't endanger anyone. He was sighted for driving 11 miles over the speed limit. Which is close to the speed the majority of people drive in none emergency situations. You expect him to drive slower then the flow of traffic, while rushing his wife to the hospital?

I have gotten a ticket for going 11 over. In fact, that's the highest I have ever gone over and gotten a ticket. I have even gotten a ticket for 6 over. I didn't whine and complain like a baby.

BTW, as an EXPERT on emergencies, I can guarantee you this was no emergency worthy of speeding.

It's not up to the lay person to determine what an emergency is and then endanger the rest of the population. Aside from speeding, how much of his judgment was impaired just from being nervous and excited about his wife's condition?

I drove my laboring wife to the hospital and managed to follow all the rules. It was amazing.