Father To Be Ticketed For Rushing To Hospital

[MA-Caver]

I'm with the troopers on this one... there is NO excuse for speeding ... even if the baby was crowning... Endangering not only the lives of other motorists but the lives of his wife and child-to-be.
http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/couple-ticketed-after-dash-to-hospital-for-baby-23739070

The father said "don't see a big deal about it"... yeah sure until you smack into someone else at 102 mph killing everyone involved... no biggie at all... Moron!

Babies don't always HAVE to be born in a hospital... quite a few I would imagine have been born in cars or ambulances that have pulled over because it just couldn't wait!

 

[Bruno@MT]

Over here the judge can make exceptions in true emergencies, or if you encounter a policecar on the road, you may ask them for an escort with siren. But speeding is always a risk and whether there are legal consequences is decided on a case by case basis. Childbirth is not among th scenarios that are allowed.

 

[Carol]

Props to the NH State Police for not insisting that the driver be pulled over due to the emergency, which is what happened in Mass. not long ago.

There is not a lot of traffic on I-93 at 3:30am, ask me how I know...lol. I don't blame the trooper for ticketing the father, but I think they have a pretty good story for the judge, or the insurance appeal.

 

[jks9199]

I think the trooper handled it professionally, for the most part.

102 is way too fast; I don't care what the traffic conditions are. The father-to-be isn't thinking straight, isn't paying attention to the environment as much as he is to his wife, and his reaction time is going to be well over the average 2 to 2 1/2 seconds to stop. I doubt he's had training to handle speed like that; you really have to learn to look much further ahead than you would think. (Stopping distance at 100+ is going to be in the neighborhood of 600 feet... under ideal conditions.) I'd be more sympathetic if the speeds were more reasonable, like below 80.

Oh... and he was ON THE CELL PHONE doing this. Which means his attention was diverted even more!

Personally -- I wouldn't have escorted him. I would have had him stop, and had medics respond. In Virginia, every cop receives training on delivering a baby. It makes the news every time it happens... but turning this into an escort at high speeds created a potential nightmare. The cop rolls up on an intersection, and he goes through. Driver with the baby on the way follows... but doesn't have lights and sirens. Crossing traffic that yielded to the cruiser t-bones the following car... Bad scenario, right? But very easy to have happen.

 

[Archangel M]

He was speeding. Speeding is a traffic violation. The officer had the discretion to not write...true. But there is absolutely nothing wrong legally or perhaps even ethically with what the trooper did. If a judge decides to dismiss based on the circumstances...so be it.

There is argument that excessive speed IS indeed reckless too. I have seen that one stick in court.

 

[jks9199]

In VA, anything in excess of 80 mph can be cited as reckless by code. We can also cite reckless by speed for 20 mph over the posted limit, as well. Honestly, I rarely cite reckless by speed alone, unless there is some sort of aggravating circumstances like traffic effected, passing a school, really insane speeds (doubling or tripling the posted limit), etc.

I'm not questioning the trooper's decisions. He knows the traffic at the time, the distance to the hospital, etc. And I have zero problem with him deciding to cite the guy. A judge can always rule that the speed was justified, and dismiss the ticket.

 

[punisher73]

That is another aspect of the ticket, the speed limit. If you look at the ticket the posted speed limit was 55 mph it wasn't an open freeway where the speed limit is 65-70mph (depending on your state) and the road is made to handle high speed traffic. He was going 102 mph almost double the posted speed limit.

This wasn't just a case of trying to hurry a little and going a little bit over, he was clearly driving in a manner that could have caused a serious accident and at that speed death. Roads are posted for a specific reason, some of those are:flow of traffic; exits and merging traffic; intersecting roads; traffic control devices; and visibility. ANY of those things are out of his control and allow for zero reaction time.

He was going 102 mph, that means that his car was going about 150feet per SECOND, the AVERAGE reaction time for a driver to see and hit the brakes is 1.5 seconds. He will have traveled 225 feet by the time he can just hit the brakes. That doesn't even include stopping time for the vehicle. There is a reason why police have lights and sirens, it is to warn other drivers to pull over so a police vehicle doesn't have to attempt any defensive manuevers because more than likely they wouldn't be able to (plus, even lights and sirens aren't a reason to go all out if it is a danger). So even if he is able to hit the brakes the instant he sees something he will have gone close to a quarter of a mile before he can stop his car.

I have to side with the police on this one, put too many people at risk, including his new baby. He is just very lucky there wasn't an accident.

 

[jks9199]

That is another aspect of the ticket, the speed limit. If you look at the ticket the posted speed limit was 55 mph it wasn't an open freeway where the speed limit is 65-70mph (depending on your state) and the road is made to handle high speed traffic. He was going 102 mph almost double the posted speed limit.

This wasn't just a case of trying to hurry a little and going a little bit over, he was clearly driving in a manner that could have caused a serious accident and at that speed death. Roads are posted for a specific reason, some of those are:flow of traffic; exits and merging traffic; intersecting roads; traffic control devices; and visibility. ANY of those things are out of his control and allow for zero reaction time.

He was going 102 mph, that means that his car was going about 150feet per SECOND, the AVERAGE reaction time for a driver to see and hit the brakes is 1.5 seconds. He will have traveled 225 feet by the time he can just hit the brakes. That doesn't even include stopping time for the vehicle. There is a reason why police have lights and sirens, it is to warn other drivers to pull over so a police vehicle doesn't have to attempt any defensive manuevers because more than likely they wouldn't be able to (plus, even lights and sirens aren't a reason to go all out if it is a danger). So even if he is able to hit the brakes the instant he sees something he will have gone close to a quarter of a mile before he can stop his car.

I have to side with the police on this one, put too many people at risk, including his new baby. He is just very lucky there wasn't an accident.

At 100 plus, a cruiser with lights and sirens actually comes up on cars faster than drivers can respond to the siren...

That's assuming the siren can even be heard over the car stereo and past the sound proofing...

 

[Carol]

If you look at the ticket the posted speed limit was 55 mph

Correct.

it wasn't an open freeway where the speed limit is 65-70mph

Incorrect. The driver was going on Interstate 293, which is indeed an open freeway, esp at 3:30 in the morning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_293

 

[jks9199]

Carol, do they do night time roadwork there? Could someone have been broken down? How about just hitting a pothole or debris?

I absolutely understand the driver's feelings; I was at work and some distance away at what turned out to be the start of my son's birth. I covered quite a bit of ground, very fast... but I don't recall hitting triple digits, and if I did, it was in a straightaway, on a limited access road.

As I said -- a judge has the right and authority to hear the guy's story, and decide to dismiss the charges as justified by an emergency, or reduce them, or hit him with the full boat. I'll tell you -- speeds like that in my area, and there's a real good chance the driver would be looking at a jail sentence, even if suspended in total.

 

[MA-Caver]

Carol, do they do night time roadwork there? Could someone have been broken down? How about just hitting a pothole or debris?

I absolutely understand the driver's feelings; I was at work and some distance away at what turned out to be the start of my son's birth. I covered quite a bit of ground, very fast... but I don't recall hitting triple digits, and if I did, it was in a straightaway, on a limited access road.

As I said -- a judge has the right and authority to hear the guy's story, and decide to dismiss the charges as justified by an emergency, or reduce them, or hit him with the full boat. I'll tell you -- speeds like that in my area, and there's a real good chance the driver would be looking at a jail sentence, even if suspended in total.

Night time road work along the interstate shouldn't be uncommon, fewer cars/trucks and more safer for workers ... of course all depending upon weather conditions. In Utah they expanded/widened I-15 by several dozen miles and MOST of the work was done at night-time with those big bright lights.

In addition to having more space to stop at those speeds as mentioned above pot-holes unexpected debris in the road ... A DEER... anything and if you jerk the wheel suddenly... guess what? You just moved the car by a dozen feet or so... whoops I think you just ran out of road there bub. Fighting inertia and momentum at those speeds would require the driving skills of a nascar or indy racer... which I doubt this guy was at any point in his life.

I feel confident when I'm driving behind the wheel but not so much to exceed the posted limit unless absolutely necessary and then only 10 or 15 mph above. I've driven cars at triple digits and I will not be afraid to say it's scary realizing if something goes wrong even by this || much, recovery is going to be tough. So... I just don't speed anymore... surprise... I usually get there on time or early and... bigger surprise... I'm still in one piece. :uhyeah:

 

[Carol]

Carol, do they do night time roadwork there? Could someone have been broken down? How about just hitting a pothole or debris?

Sure, esp. in September when the incident happened. (In January, not so much...LOL)

I absolutely understand the driver's feelings; I was at work and some distance away at what turned out to be the start of my son's birth. I covered quite a bit of ground, very fast... but I don't recall hitting triple digits, and if I did, it was in a straightaway, on a limited access road.

As I said -- a judge has the right and authority to hear the guy's story, and decide to dismiss the charges as justified by an emergency, or reduce them, or hit him with the full boat. I'll tell you -- speeds like that in my area, and there's a real good chance the driver would be looking at a jail sentence, even if suspended in total.

As I mentioned in my post, I don't fault the police officer for doing what he did.

However, what I am refuting is the assumption that the driver was NOT going on a limited-access roadway simply because he was traveling in a 55 MPH zone. This is incorrect.

WMUR-TV, WGIR-AM, as well as other local news sources have reported that he was traveling on I-293. Interstates are, by definition, limited access.

Also, when the national speed law of 55 MPH was repealed, an exception was made for roadways in towns of 50,000 people or more. The wiki link describes I-293 as an interstate that traverses Manchester, which is a city of more than 50,000 people...hence a posted speed of 55 MPH.

 

[sgtmac_46]

102 in a 55?! What an IDIOT! She's not dying, she's giving birth......and hitting a utility pole at 102mph doesn't positively aid the birthing process.

That having been said, when you feel that it's important enough to break the law, then you cowboy up and deal with the consequences with a clear conscience by taking responsibility for your actions.......and you hire a lawyer.

 

[punisher73]

Correct.

Incorrect. The driver was going on Interstate 293, which is indeed an open freeway, esp at 3:30 in the morning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_293

Looking at the pictures in the link and the footage from the video clip, it is a narrow freeway, that is what I meant by not being an open freeway, they wouldn't call it an interstate for nothing. Many times they keep the speed limit at 55 mph when the road is not designed for higher speeds. If they felt it was safer to have regular highway speeds it would be posted as such.

 

[Carol]

Not Guilty.

http://www.unionleader.com/article....rticleId=0dc8df38-b5c3-4359-8c55-9b7ac3805819

 

[jks9199]

Not Guilty.

http://www.unionleader.com/article....rticleId=0dc8df38-b5c3-4359-8c55-9b7ac3805819

Compassionate of the judge -- but I think it was a wrong decision. There's no dispute that Conklin was driving extremely fast, with much less than full attention. I understand wanting to go to the hospital you selected for a birth -- but calling 911 for an ambulance would be a much better choice. This really is sending the wrong message.

The trooper is also lucky. Turning the incident into an escort was extremely risky. The cruiser had lights and sirens to warn people. Conklin's car did not.

 

[Archangel M]

How do you get declared "not guilty" of speeding when you admit that you were in fact speeding?