Trooper Gives Traffic Ticket to Woman in Labor

Started by TurboDan, December 04, 2008, 08:42:54 AM

rohan

Quote from: AutobahnSHO on December 07, 2008, 06:59:23 AM
1- Very stupid to not go to the nearest hospital if it's "that urgent".
2- If they're careful and driving 10-15mph, there won't be a wreck..
3- They "errands" were dropping the OTHER kid off. Ever try to spend a day or so at the hospital (for surgery!) with another child??!  Not a good plan in the least.
4- East coast traffic sucks. I'd probably do the same thing if the wife was about to pop. You never know how long labor will last...
2) may not be a wreck- you'ld be surprised at how people crash!
4) East coast isnt' the only place with bad traffic- and if your wife was having labor pains every 3 minutes you'ld drive her 30 minutes away to a hospital? 
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JYODER240

Alot of people have a specific hospital they either need or want to go to. Maybe her insurance forced her to  go to that hospital. There may have been a specific doctor they wanted, or just preferred that hospital. For example my sister had to go to Mercy in Canton rather than Akron General for insurance reasons. She also wanted to go there because she was recommended a doctor that the doctor she works for knows. Mercy also has private rooms so she wouldn't have to share a room with anyone else.

The lady was going to a hospital 30miles away, that's not a big deal. A lot of people have to drive 30miles to the nearest hospital anyway. The cop was being a jerk. How do you give them a ticket after two other officers gave them permission?
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JYODER240

Quote from: rohan on December 07, 2008, 06:51:28 AM
Yup.  That and her contractions were "3 minutes apart."  :rolleyes:  If it was that big of an emergency why didn't they go to a closer hospital?  Answer - because it was BS that they were that close together------>5 hours later her second child was born.    5 hours.   

Contractions at 3min can easily last 5 hours. It's not that uncommon. My sister probably went at least that long once they were every 3min. At the same time if she's had multiple children 3min apart could go very very fast.
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Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death


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rohan

Then she could either gone to a local hospital or driven in the regular lanes. 

By the way- all insurance lets you go to the nearest hospital in emergencies they just ahve to retro-authorize it.  Emergencies are emergencies- so if it was really an emergency she could've gone locally.  Otherwise they should've stayed int eh regular lanes.
http://outdooradventuresrevived.blogspot.com/

"We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from out children."

~Chief Seattle






dazzleman

Quote from: rohan on December 07, 2008, 09:58:08 AM
Then she could either gone to a local hospital or driven in the regular lanes. 

By the way- all insurance lets you go to the nearest hospital in emergencies they just ahve to retro-authorize it.  Emergencies are emergencies- so if it was really an emergency she could've gone locally.  Otherwise they should've stayed int eh regular lanes.

Or they could have called an ambulance, if the situation was that dire.  An ambulance can get around traffic more safely.

A case like this is a judgment call.  A personal emergency doesn't necessarily justify putting others in danger, if they were doing that.  Without all the facts, who knows the real truth.

Just because other officers waived them through doesn't mean every officer has to.  That's like say that because one officer pulled you over and didn't give you a ticket, that no officer can.  There will always be personal differences and inconsistencies in law enforcement, unless we take all discretion away from individual LEOs, which is completely impractical.
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hotrodalex

Quote from: dazzleman on December 07, 2008, 11:10:34 AM
Or they could have called an ambulance, if the situation was that dire.  An ambulance can get around traffic more safely.

A case like this is a judgment call.  A personal emergency doesn't necessarily justify putting others in danger, if they were doing that.  Without all the facts, who knows the real truth.

Just because other officers waived them through doesn't mean every officer has to.  That's like say that because one officer pulled you over and didn't give you a ticket, that no officer can.  There will always be personal differences and inconsistencies in law enforcement, unless we take all discretion away from individual LEOs, which is completely impractical.

From the sound of it, when the officer asked if they wanted an ambulance they were only an exit away. It would probably be much quicker just to drive in that situation.

dazzleman

Quote from: hotrodalex on December 07, 2008, 11:37:31 AM
From the sound of it, when the officer asked if they wanted an ambulance they were only an exit away. It would probably be much quicker just to drive in that situation.

At that point, yes, but maybe they should have called an ambulance from the house.

I don't think we should necessarily be so quick to question this officer's judgment without having all the facts.  As I said before, I don't think a personal emergency gives you carte blanche to possibly endanger others (if that's what was happening here).  There are ways to deal with a personal emergency that don't require you to take the law into your own hands, though there are times when the latter is the only option.
A good friend will come bail you out of jail...BUT, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, DAMN...that was fun!

JYODER240

Quote from: rohan on December 07, 2008, 09:58:08 AM
Then she could either gone to a local hospital or driven in the regular lanes. 

By the way- all insurance lets you go to the nearest hospital in emergencies they just ahve to retro-authorize it.  Emergencies are emergencies- so if it was really an emergency she could've gone locally.  Otherwise they should've stayed int eh regular lanes.

They were driving in the emergency lane not doing 70 drunk in a school zone  :huh: I really doubt they were going that fast anyway if two other officers let them go. At the most the officer should have have just told them they couldn't and had to stop. A ticket is wrong IMO when two other officers said they could. The officer could have just said he felt it was too dangerous and they had to stop.
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Byteme

Quote from: JYODER240 on December 08, 2008, 09:17:30 AM
They were driving in the emergency lane not doing 70 drunk in a school zone  :huh: I really doubt they were going that fast anyway if two other officers let them go. At the most the officer should have have just told them they couldn't and had to stop. A ticket is wrong IMO when two other officers said they could. The officer could have just said he felt it was too dangerous and they had to stop.

Perhaps the officer issuing the ticket was right and the two that waved her on were wrong. 

sparkplug

Couldn't she have had it at home. My uncle was born at home and he turned out fine. On occasion he lifts his leg and pee's on the the fire hydrant but other than that he's alright.
Getting stoned, one stone at a time.

dsred

I'm shocked that Rohan supports this decision.

Shocked.

hotrodalex

Quote from: Byteme on December 08, 2008, 11:16:56 AM
Perhaps the officer issuing the ticket was right and the two that waved her on were wrong. 

But they should at least be consistent. You shouldn't get a ticket if you were told it was okay before. The cop should have just told them to get back into normal traffic.

SVT_Power

They were both stupid. But the retard and asshole of the day award goes to the officer in this case
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TurboDan

I can understand him asking for "proof" she was pregnant, but the fact he essentially purposely delayed them by going through the whole "license and registration" routine and checking the DMV database, etc. is what makes the trooper look like a jerk.

If it's permitted, perhaps he could've given her a lift to the hospital with his strobes on and told the husband to drive safely in the regular lane and meet them there.

bing_oh

Quote from: Byteme on December 08, 2008, 11:16:56 AM
Perhaps the officer issuing the ticket was right and the two that waved her on were wrong. 

In alot of ways, they were. A police officer doesn't have the legal authority to give someone permission to violate the law.

Quote from: TurboDan on December 08, 2008, 11:25:11 PMIf it's permitted, perhaps he could've given her a lift to the hospital with his strobes on and told the husband to drive safely in the regular lane and meet them there.

Every department I've worked for has had specific policies against exactly that. If there's a medical emergency, you call EMS. "Escorting" somebody to the hospital is a recipe for disaster (and a lawsuit).

JYODER240

Quote from: Byteme on December 08, 2008, 11:16:56 AM
Perhaps the officer issuing the ticket was right and the two that waved her on were wrong. 

So then the couple is basically being punished for the other two officers poor judgement?
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Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death


*President of the "I survived the Volvo S80 thread" club*

ChrisV

Yeah, disobeying a lawful command (i.e. something an officer tells you to do) is a bad thing. And apparently, so is OBEYING two lawful commands.

So now we as citizens have to pick and choose which officers to listen to?


BTW, was this in rush hour? Massachussetts has a history of allowing traffic in the "breakdown lanes" during rush hour statewide.

As for the request for an ambulance, At that point, they were already on their way to the hospital. Why would they want to sit there and wait for an ambulance they didn't need (and which isn't free, by the way) when all they wanted was to get off at the next exit? The ambulance was a useless suggestion that would only slow down their trip at that point...anybody can see that. An offer of escort would have been sensible and had they been lying, easily turned into an arrestable offense.
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GoCougs

Guys - the whole LEO escort is the things of movies...

As we all know, not all laws are applied equal to everyone by everyone.

Catman

When my wife was in labor with my son we were headed to the same hospital in Cambridge and I got stopped by a Trooper on Rt 128 in Bedford.  Admittedly, I was doing about 80 or so.  After a brief interruption we were on our way.  as I pulled away I told him he should get his broken headlight fixed. :tounge:

NomisR

Quote from: R-inge on December 04, 2008, 05:09:59 PM
The whole bit where he asked for proof that she was preggers was stupid, true.

Ever seen that Citibank Thank you commercial?  The one where this lady says congratulations to a fat chick because she thought the other lady was pregnant?  This is probably the case. 

And I feel no sympathy due to what others have said.  But the first few officers should have given them a warning at least to begin with.