I got pulled over and recieved a speeding ticket for rushing my son to the Emergency Room??

newcarolinagirl

Go to court. You don't need an attorney. Plead NoLo Contendere which is a plea for first time offenders to keep points off your license. Explain what happened to the judge and ask him/her to reduce the ticket. You were in the wrong for speeding and reckless, so there's no need to try and weasel out of it. Just be nice and humble and maybe the judge with cut you a break. Good luck!! :)

laughter_every_day

plead not guilty. At trial, assert a defense of necessity. Read up on it first, so that you understand the true nature of the defense. Even if it doesn't work, it should result in a lower fine.

California Street Cop

Just tell your story.

BTW...police escorts to the hospital are merely shadows of yesteryear. Thanks to our grand new overly litigious society we can no longer run the liability of escorting.

CGIV76

I have run across this situation several times in 30 years. Depending on traffic, I would either escort, or drive the people to the hospital. If it truly was an emergency, no citations were issued. If it wasn't an emergency, then the pen came out. Doing 21 mph over the limit didn't get you to the hospital any faster. In fact, it took longer because you were stopped.

Madkins007

Well, you violated Rule #1 of all CPR training I know- you call for transport, period.

The issue is NOT 'can I get to the hospital quickly', it is 'how do I get the best care on the victim the quickest?" With troubled breathing, paramedics can show up quickly, do the appropriate assessments, give the right care, and transport him safely.

You basically panicked, like oh-so-many people do in this situation. Because of your panic/shock.stress, you were probably not driving real safely and really deserved to get pulled over.

By the way- I don't think ANY police 'escort' people anymore- too risky for you and them. Flashing lights and sirens protect the THEM- NOT vehicles in front of or behind them. I know ours do not.

You really don't have a leg to stand on. I would plead guilty and ask for the mercy of the court. You were an idiot, but you were an idiot for the sake of your child.

I hope your son is OK!

sensible_man

Do what you feel you need to do. The cop was within his rights to ticket you. The judge may or may not agree with you. I understand your point of view (except that while you say you are trained in CPR, you were driving, not your wife) Good luck.

the s0urce

It's not worth fighting it, the cost of a lawyer, and court time will add up to the ticket costs, if you are worried about your records, and don't want it to remain in your record, you can attend a class its about 2 hours long, you still pay the fine but its no longer in your record, good luck tho,

mkarakey

First ask for an extension to pay the ticket, then file for a trial by written declaration a week or so prior to the new deadline. The cop who pulled you over will have to file a written response as well and 9 out of 10 times they don't want to waste their time and chances are after a couple of months he won't remember you or the details of that night and the ticket will be dismissed.

Any reasonable judge would rule not guilty. Unfortunately, there aren't that many of them on the bench and in order to get such a ruling with them you have to argue only the law, logic and common sense arguments mean nothing.
Read up on the laws that are pertinent.

Misc. info that may be of interest:
http://www.trafficticketsecrets.com/traffic-ticket.html
http://www.trafficticketsecrets.com/get-out-of-a-speeding-ticket.html
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/traffic-ticket2.htm

Lori H

First off, alot of agencies no longer provide escorts because of the liablitlity in the event there are accidents. In the past when officers have provided an escort in an emergency situation, people move over for the officer and his lights and sirens but as soon as the officer passes by they pull back into traffic and hit the vehicle being escorted killing them all. I tell people all the time that call my emergency dispatch telling me that they are making an emergency run to a doctors office or ER that I can not give them permission to break the law. I also tell them that I will call EMS for them.

You have no grounds to fight this ticket, you could have killed your wife and child among others in the event that you crahsed.

MSAD

The officer is right - doing 75 in a 55 is dangerous. In your rush to get to the hospital, you could have caused an accident and killed your family or someone else's family. As an insurance adjuster, I have investigated many fatal car accidents at speed well below 75. The vast majority of the fatal car accidents I have investigated happen at well under 55. And in none of the accidents did any of the drivers mean for the accident to happen for for someone to die.

You were wrong.

The speed limit sign does not say "Speed limit 55 - unless you have a really good reason to ignore it".

By choosing to rush to the hospital - you endangered your family and every other person on the road.

You should have called 911. While waiting for the ambulance, if your son stopped breathing you could have used your CPR training. You can't do CPR and drive at the same time.

You panicked and made the wrong decision.

Next time call 911.

krptonite2004

Thanks for all the answers. I get it, next time call 911. And yes i did break the law, but the cop could have been a little more respectful toward us. And for the CPR stuff, my SON WASN'T NEEDING CPR, THE COP SAID THAT I DIDN'T KNOW CPR, AND IF MY SON HAD NEEDED IT, HE WOULD'VE HAD A SHORT TIME TO LIVE. AND ******' YES this really happened. Why would I make up a story like this and post it up here for people's advice? I didn't know they don't do escorts anymore. On top of it all, the officer made me stay in the car while my son was in the hospital. We could've easily done that in the hospital. I've had bad experiences with 911 and how long it takes them so taht is why i didn't call, PLUS he is my son, i would give up everything for him, even my LIFE. I would do this again in a heart beat.

zebj25

Call 911 next time. Are you a trained emergency vehicle driver? Do you have lights and sirens on your car? Are you medically trained to care for your son while in route? How often does your son suffer from these medical condition? Is it a regular occurance? Or was this a first time thing? If you're trained in CPR, then why were you driving and not your wife? Its tough to give cpr from behind the wheel.

I hate to say this, but you were wrong. Understandably so, mind you. I would probably have done the same thing, and I too would have been wrong as well. Your son was the only one in danger at first, however, with you driving this way, you also endangered yourself, your wife, your son, and innocent bystanders.

Give Blood

Even ambulances and emergency vehicles are required by law to follow the speed limits and other traffic laws.

Peter N

This story seems a little far fetched. My troll detector is lighting up big time on this one. I cannot imagine (for the life of me) a police officer issuing a ticket to someone with a deathly sick child in the back seat of their car on the way to the hospital at 2am. Any officer that would do that should be fired and sent to Iraq. All these people on this thread are full of B.S. Your kid is on the verge of death, you bet your **** you would be hopping into the car and making a b-line to the nearest hospital. Give me a break folks!!!! FIGHT IT!!!!

charlsyeh

i do not believe this made up story for even one second

phlada64

You can try. No 1-most policemen hate to have to take a day off to go to court. No 2-bring your son with you if you do go to court. A little sympathy for the little one couldnt hurt. Dress in your uniform. It's harder to fight someone who is clearly in service to his country. No 3-next time call 911-the officer was right. Paramedics could have gotten there sooner and you wouldnt have gotten a ticket.

Texas Democrat

I would fight it. He cannot give you a ticket for rushing your son to the Emergency Room. He is supposed to escort you there.

kim pace

Something similar happened to me . I have a daughter who has epilepisy and was having back to back seizures. I too was ticketed( however with escort ) I fought it and I won.

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