Man disputes penalty for speeding pregnant wife to hospital

[Curly]

What I don't get is why did the first RCMP officer did not call for an ambulance like the second one did???.

 

[Led_Z]

The first officer should have escorted them to the hospital. No ifs or buts.

 

[Auggie]

50 km/h over the speed limit is reckless endangerment of his pregnant wife, the penalty sounds fair.

 

[Stoner]

50 km/h over the speed limit is reckless endangerment of his pregnant wife, the penalty sounds fair.

Your wife is bleeding, has a history. You will stop on the highway and call for an ambulance?.

If you were a lawyer you would fail the compassionate test.

 

[Auggie]

Your wife is bleeding, has a history. You will stop on the highway and call for an ambulance?.

If you were a lawyer you would fail the compassionate test.

No, I think waiting for an ambulance would take longer. I'd race to the hospital, but not at 50km/hr over - that's crazy and dangerous to everyone.
Even an ambulance wouldn't go that fast.

 

[tboy]

The first officer should have escorted them to the hospital. No ifs or buts.

"Then David was pulled over for speeding by the RCMP, who told him to slow down and offered him a police escort to the nearest hospital, in nearby Portage-la-Prarie. He declined the offer and rushed off toward the city of Brandon, where the couple felt Genevieve would "be taken care of."

They did and the knob refused.......he deserves to have his licence suspended.......

Since I travel up and down 11/400 a lot. I was doing some math to see the difference between doing 110 all the way down, and 120. It not only takes me 2 l/100 kms more fuel, but really only saves me about 10 minutes on the trip. If I get caught for speeding, the cost will be exponential with not much saving (time).

Since the baby was born 25 minutes after he got to the hospital. He in fact had time to spare. If he had been doing 30 kph over the limit instead of 50, he wouldn't have saved that much time, and wouldn't have had his licence suspended.

Now I bet if he was only doing 120, he wouldn't have been stopped twice, and would have saved the time the cops took while having him stopped, plus he probably wouldn't have gotten a ticket, and would have arrived actually sooner than he did doing 50 kph over......what's that saying? slow and steady wins the race or the more popular tortoise/hare analogy.....

 

[Slick]

They did and the knob refused.......he deserves to have his licence suspended.......

They did and the knob refused.......he deserves to have his licence suspended.......

I don't get it. Nearby hospital or the one he wanted to go. What would be the difference.

Yes he is a knob.

 

[SillyGirl]

"Then David was pulled over for speeding by the RCMP, who told him to slow down and offered him a police escort to the nearest hospital, in nearby Portage-la-Prarie. He declined the offer and rushed off toward the city of Brandon, where the couple felt Genevieve would "be taken care of."

They did and the knob refused.......he deserves to have his licence suspended.......

He refused because this was a high-risk pregnancy, and the nearest hospital was not as well prepared for that. I would have made the same call.

I don't understand why the first officer didn't escort them...if it went out of his jurisdiction, couldn't he have arranged someone to meet them?

There was a similar case in the States recently, and the guy ended up with all the charges dropped.

 

[tboy]

I repeat SG: the first officer offerred to escort them and he refused......now sure, he didn't want to go to the hospital the cop offerred to escort him to, but please, cops aren't personal servants to everyone's whim.

It doesn't say though which officer gave him the ticket, the first one or the second?

Sorry, but if my wife is having a baby I wouldn't stop to decide which hospital is "best", I'd prefer to get her medical attention IMMEDIATELY as opposed to preferred........and sorry, a c section isn't like brain surgery, or that specialized that someone has to be flown in from sweden to perform it.......

Once again, if he'd just done 120 kph instead of 150 he would have made it to either hospital in plenty of time.......and better yet, NO ticket or suspension!!!

(btw, I've seen ambulances get pulled over by the cops for speeding. In fact, the guy I bought my house from was an EMT and he told me they have a limit of 100 kph and have tracking devices on board to record if they surpass that limit....)

 

[SillyGirl]

I repeat SG: the first officer offerred to escort them and he refused......now sure, he didn't want to go to the hospital the cop offerred to escort him to, but please, cops aren't personal servants to everyone's whim.

It doesn't say though which officer gave him the ticket, the first one or the second?

Sorry, but if my wife is having a baby I wouldn't stop to decide which hospital is "best", I'd prefer to get her medical attention IMMEDIATELY as opposed to preferred........and sorry, a c section isn't like brain surgery, or that specialized that someone has to be flown in from sweden to perform it.......

Once again, if he'd just done 120 kph instead of 150 he would have made it to either hospital in plenty of time.......and better yet, NO ticket or suspension!!!

(btw, I've seen ambulances get pulled over by the cops for speeding. In fact, the guy I bought my house from was an EMT and he told me they have a limit of 100 kph and have tracking devices on board to record if they surpass that limit....)

I'm not arguing that he had to drive that fast, obviously he would have made it.

I'm just saying I understand wanting to be at the better-equipped hospital. Since the article doesn't specify exactly what her complications were, we don't know if this was a routine c-section and so can't really know if it was actually proved necessary to drive further. Maybe there was a specialist on-staff at the hospital they wanted, again there is not enough information to decisively say either way.

Having had the experience of hearing "if your water breaks, it's a medical emergency for both of you", I can tell you that it's very, very scary...I can't argue with the judgment-call made by two terrified people in this case.

 

[tboy]

I don't think the issue here is whether or not there was a medical emergency....there was. But I think the issue here is whether or not he should be let off....I don't think he should be........

The facts we know:
1) A medical emergency existed
2) The husband chose to drive at 150 kph to get his wife to the hospital of HIS choice, not the nearest one.
3) A police officer offerred to escort him to a hospital, but her refused.
4) A police officer told him to slow down, he chose to ignore that advice
5) Amblances are not allowed to drive at the speeds he was driving
6) He would have made it in plenty of time at the speed limit or 20 kph over (I know hindsight and all that).
7) He most likely would not have been stopped, or received a ticket, if he had gone 120 kph
8) there are laws on the books whereby someone travelling at 150 kph gets an automatic suspension. I bet even an ambulance driver would receive a suspension if caught doing 150 kph

I think the argument that he "needs the car for work" is bogus. Deadbeat dads lose their right to drive all the time and even those that need their licence for work lose theirs so that excuse goes out the window.

Now one could argue that it was an emergency hence why he was driving fast but there are laws prohibiting er vehicles from going that fast so why should he be exempt?

Bottom line is his baby was born, mother and baby are fine, if he loses his licence for a month that is a small price to pay for what he received. I mean, what if he killed someone? should he be let off because "it was an emergency"???

See, as I've gotten older (and wiser hopefully lol) I have found that there are necessary risks, and unnecessary risks. I think in this case the husband took an unnecessary risk. I think that is how the judgement will go down as well.

 

[SillyGirl]

If he had killed someone, that would be a different issue. Perhaps we could not stray into "what ifs", because then I'd have to say "what if that baby had been born between the two times he was stopped, and the mother and baby had died?" We could "what if" it to death but there's no point.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. Go ahead, give it a try...it won't hurt too much, I promise. :tongue: