Speeding ticket - cop was speeding (Point: to live in, legal, moving)

[DerpyDerp]

Originally Posted by prim8

The cop probably didn't believe him.

He believed him, but said "This will only take a couple of minutes."

Originally Posted by TexasRedneck

Not really - the doc was speeding, and there's NO defense to putting others at risk. Methinks that there was something more than what your friend told you.

No, it happened exactly as I said. No traffic, middle of the night, clear weather, no erratic driving, 15 MPH over the 65 MPH speed limit on a 5-lane freeway. Nobody was at risk except an infant, and saving a human life is the best defense for speeding that I can think of. I have a feeling that the cop would have acted differently had it been his child or a colleague who was in need of emergency surgery.

Anyway, the story had a happy ending and that's all that really matters.

[TexasRedneck]

Originally Posted by Azure110

Sometimes I think that way too when I see a cop speeding excessively, running red lights, not using turn signals when changing lanes, etc.

Not using signals - I agree w/you - no excuse.

Running red lights.....um, EVERY one I've ever seen do that was running "code 3" (lights & sirens)

Speeding - it's hard to call, because for safety reasons, there are legitimate reasons that you wouldn't run lights/sirens on a run.

[Neshomamench]

Originally Posted by DerpyDerp

Not entirely relevant to this thread, but my friend is a surgeon who was given a speeding ticket as he was rushing to the hospital to perform emergency, life saving surgery on an infant. Lousy judgement by the cop.

What is lousy judgement is you thinking you have a clue why cops make the choices they do. Street cops have heard it all from every kind of person. The one thing you can count on is even good people will lie through their teeth.

[DerpyDerp]

Originally Posted by Neshomamench

What is lousy judgement is you thinking you have a clue why cops make the choices they do. Street cops have heard it all from every kind of person. The one thing you can count on is even good people will lie through their teeth.

That doesn't change the fact that the doctor was in fact on an emergency call to perform surgery on an infant and the cop chose to delay him by issuing a citation. The officer was certainly within his rights to cite the doctor even after he had verified his ID, but I'll stand by my assertion that he made a lousy judgement call.

[Neshomamench]

Originally Posted by DerpyDerp

That doesn't change the fact that the doctor was in fact on an emergency call to perform surgery on an infant and the cop chose to delay him by issuing a citation. The officer was certainly within his rights to cite the doctor even after he had verified his ID, but I'll stand by my assertion that he made a lousy judgement call.

How can the cop possibly know if the doctor is telling the truth? Producing alleged proof he is a doctor does not prove that. It would also take him longer to verify the story than to stroke a ticket.

The only fact is "Cop saw someone speeding and took action based on the one thing he knows."

Everything else is just how people feel.

When you have been lied to thousands of times by every kind of person, you just do your job and sometimes that means someone telling the truth also gets a ticket. That is what judges are for.

[DerpyDerp]

Originally Posted by Neshomamench

When you have been lied to thousands of times by every kind of person, you just do your job and sometimes that means someone telling the truth also gets a ticket.

And in this case it could have meant that a child would die, although thankfully that didn't occur. Cops have a difficult job and they're only human and thus capable of making mistakes or bad calls. I'm just putting myself in the cop's shoes and saying that if I pulled over a doctor for a minor speeding infraction and he told me that he was rushing to perform emergency surgery and there was no evidence to the contrary, I'd probably let him go with a "If you're lying to me it's your lucky day, Doc."

I'd hate to think that being lied to by others would cause me to be so jaded that I couldn't give anyone the benefit of the doubt. I don't really have anything more to say about the matter, so we can agree to disagree.

[Neshomamench]

Originally Posted by DerpyDerp

And in this case it could have meant that a child would die, although thankfully that didn't occur. Cops have a difficult job and they're only human and thus capable of making mistakes or bad calls. I'm just putting myself in the cop's shoes and saying that if I pulled over a doctor for a minor speeding infraction and he told me that he was rushing to perform emergency surgery and there was no evidence to the contrary, I'd probably let him go with a "If you're lying to me it's your lucky day, Doc."

I'd hate to think that being lied to by others would cause me to be so jaded that I couldn't give anyone the benefit of the doubt. I don't really have anything more to say about the matter, so we can agree to disagree.

You obviously cant possibly imagine what a cops job is or is like....but you know how you feel. Doctors, clergy, grandmothers, just about everyone, lies through their teeth. People will say anything to get out of consequences. When in doubt, one of the valid options is to tell it to the judge. Judges throw out tickets all the time because of valid reasons....as it should be.


Of course, as the husband of a highly specialized surgeon, I know how that world works and I have little sympathy for doctors who BS people about what they do or have to do. Ill bet money that If I could talk to your whiny surgeon friend, I could poke a lot of holes in his story...even if he was actually on his way to perform surgery.

In a big city like San Antonio with level 1 trauma centers, his story is unlikely to be true as you have related it.

You believe him because you want to....even if he is telling the truth, you have no possible way of knowing the truth. You have chosen to believe a particular side of the story.

[DerpyDerp]

Originally Posted by Neshomamench

Of course, as the husband of a highly specialized surgeon, I know how that world works and I have little sympathy for doctors who BS people about what they do or have to do. Ill bet money that If I could talk to your whiny surgeon friend, I could poke a lot of holes in his story...even if he was actually on his way to perform surgery.

In a big city like San Antonio with level 1 trauma centers, his story is unlikely to be true as you have related it.

You believe him because you want to....even if he is telling the truth, you have no possible way of knowing the truth. You have chosen to believe a particular side of the story.

Once you called my friend "whiny" (these are my posts, not his) you demonstrated that you have no intention of maintaining a civilized discussion, so I'll bow out.

Trust me, my friend is also a highly specialized surgeon and many people are alive today because of his skills. Skills that he executes daily at one of San Antonio's Level 1 trauma centers, I might add. You couldn't "poke holes" in his story because it is 100% true: he was rushing to perform emergency surgery on an infant in the wee hours of the morning. There are surgeons who get the call to perform emergency procedures on severely injured people in the middle of the night, and he is one of them.

Yes, I choose to believe his version of the events because he has no reason to lie to me about them. You may be thoroughly jaded, but I am not. And it's only conjecture on my part, but I have a feeling that he won't hesitate to rush the next time he gets an emergency call, because let's face it: someone's life is more important than a speeding ticket.

[Neshomamench]

Originally Posted by DerpyDerp

Once you called my friend "whiny" (these are my posts, not his) you demonstrated that you have no intention of maintaining a civilized discussion, so I'll bow out.

Trust me, my friend is also a highly specialized surgeon and many people are alive today because of his skills. Skills that he executes daily at one of San Antonio's Level 1 trauma centers, I might add. You couldn't "poke holes" in his story because it is 100% true: he was rushing to perform emergency surgery on an infant in the wee hours of the morning. There are surgeons who get the call to perform emergency procedures on severely injured people in the middle of the night, and he is one of them.

Yes, I choose to believe his version of the events because he has no reason to lie to me about them. You may be thoroughly jaded, but I am not. And it's only conjecture on my part, but I have a feeling that he won't hesitate to rush the next time he gets an emergency call, because let's face it: someone's life is more important than a speeding ticket.

If it was at a level 1 trauma center then it is very unlikely that he needed to speed, even if he was on call. I live with someone who does the exact same thing all the time.

He was speeding, got a ticket, and like most everyone else on Earth has an excuse. It happens. life goes on. Where is the rest of the story? "And the when I provided the time stamped hospital logs and a summary of the case to the judge he dismissed the ticket...." Which is exactly what would happen.

You are throwing a cop under the bus who did his job because you feel your friend could do no wrong.

[DerpyDerp]

Originally Posted by Neshomamench

If it was at a level 1 trauma center then it is very unlikely that he needed to speed, even if he was on call. I live with someone who does the exact same thing all the time.

He was speeding, got a ticket, and like most everyone else on Earth has an excuse. It happens. life goes on. Where is the rest of the story? "And the when I provided the time stamped hospital logs and a summary of the case to the judge he dismissed the ticket...." Which is exactly what would happen.

You are throwing a cop under the bus who did his job because you feel your friend could do no wrong.

So who is going to perform the brain surgery on the baby? It's not going to be the ER doctor, it's going to be the specialist on call. I haven't thrown anyone under the bus, I've given my opinion about the cop's reaction to the situation and even acknowledged that he acted within his rights as a law enforcement officer. Neither have I implied that my friend can do no wrong; I've acknowledged that he exceeded the speed limit, albeit with the excuse that he was rushing to perform emergency surgery on an infant. I don't know if he has the time or inclination to fight the ticket, but I'm sure that it would be easy enough to provide the proper documentation to the judge. As you suggested, I assume that the judge would dismiss the ticket when provided said evidence. So everyone walks away happy, but that doesn't change the facts of my original post: a cop delayed a doctor who was in a hurry to perform emergency surgery. That was the only point I was trying to make and I can't see any benefit from discussing this further.