Has anyone gotten a red light traffic ticket on the job?

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clownhugger

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Buddy of mine got hit by one of these tickets with a patient in the back and wasn't going code. He showed me the video and it was pretty safe. He said there wasn't much room to stop and having a patient in the back with hx of spine problems and slamming on the brakes probably wouldn't be a good idea.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? You would think ambulances with patients would have a bit more leniency.
 
Wait? You think it's okay to go through a red light, when you're not traveling with lights and sirens, because you have a patient in the back?

What happened to maintaining a safe stopping distance and driving with due regard for traffic laws?

It doesn't matter if you're in a Uhaul, an ambulance or a bread truck, you have to STOP at a red light.
 
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clownhugger said:
Buddy of mine got hit by one of these tickets with a patient in the back and wasn't going code. He showed me the video and it was pretty safe. He said there wasn't much room to stop and having a patient in the back with hx of spine problems and slamming on the brakes probably wouldn't be a good idea.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? You would think ambulances with patients would have a bit more leniency.
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Regardless if you're driving code or not you have a responsibility to drive in a safe manner. If he was driving so fast that he didn't feel he could safely stop then he was driving too fast. "Pretty safe" is a poor excuse.

I understand not wanting to cause pain or harm to your patient yet driving so fast he couldn't stop he was needlessly endangering himself, his partner, his patient and everyone else out on the road.
 
nwhitney said:
Regardless if you're driving code or not you have a responsibility to drive in a safe manner. If he was driving so fast that he didn't feel he could safely stop then he was driving too fast. "Pretty safe" is a poor excuse.

I understand not wanting to cause pain or harm to your patient yet driving so fast he couldn't stop he was needlessly endangering himself, his partner, his patient and everyone else out on the road.
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He was going the speed limit. Never sped up. He was at the line when it turned red and was out of the intersection 1.5 seconds after it turned red.
 
clownhugger said:
He was going the speed limit. Never sped up. He was at the line when it turned red and was out of the intersection 1.5 seconds after it turned red.
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Doesn't matter if he was doing the speed limit. He should have stopped. Just because he was driving the speed limit doesn't mean he was driving too fast or safe. I would argue he should have been driving slower and been paying attention.

Did he not see the light turn yellow? When the light turned yellow he should have been slowing down.

Unless the timing of going from yellow to red is off (which can happen at times) he ran a red light.
 
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It's already over and done with. I was just curious what other people thought about it!
 
I can't tell you how many times I have seen an LEO get impatient at a red light, throw on the lights and sirens, clear the intersection, then turn them off. A few minutes later you see the very same guy on the same road ordering lunch,buying a coffee, using the bathroom, getting a a doughnut...
Unrelated Gripe...

Anyway... no one, police or EMS, should be blowing the red light unless they have reason to be going code.
It's a long shot.... but can the driver prove in a court of law that kinetic energy secondary to putting on the breaks could have lead to an exasperation of the patients spinal injury? If so, why where the lights and sirens not turned on for a moment to clear the red light? Why was the driver not paying attention to the traffic light and upcoming intersection from further away?
 
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Post the video so we can make a more informed judgement.
 
schulz said:
I can't tell you how many times I have seen an LEO get impatient at a red light, throw on the lights and sirens, clear the intersection, then turn them off. A few minutes later you see the very same guy on the same road ordering lunch,buying a coffee, using the bathroom, getting a a doughnut...
Unrelated Gripe...

Anyway... no one, police or EMS, should be blowing the red light unless they have reason to be going code.
It's a long shot.... but can the driver prove in a court of law that kinetic energy secondary to putting on the breaks could have lead to an exasperation of the patients spinal injury? If so, why where the lights and sirens not turned on for a moment to clear the red light? Why was the driver not paying attention to the traffic light and upcoming intersection from further away?
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no one should be blowing a red light or stop sign ...EVER...even going code. Driver should have been going slower / been paying more attention.
 
Wow. Ya'll talk as though you are all perfect drivers who never get caught half a second behind a yellow light....
 
To be fair, if even the front 1 inch of the ambulance was past the line entering the intersection before it turned red he should not have gotten a ticket. Sounds like a close call at best for getting a ticket and should be easy to fight.



Now why he is in this situation at all is entirely his fault and easily solvable...


Also, hypothetical -

You are driving non emergent and an LEO gets behind you and flicks the lights on, you have a patient in the back that is clearly non emergent but does have a medical complaint. Lets say the hospital is about another 10 minutes out, what do you do? I would be half inclined to flick my lights on and off, continue transport and try and reach the LEO via radio to let him know he can follow me to the ER but I am not delaying transport unless he has an something of urgency for me. How would you guys handle this situation
 
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clownhugger said:
He was going the speed limit. Never sped up. He was at the line when it turned red and was out of the intersection 1.5 seconds after it turned red.
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A failure for "your partner" to slow down for a stale green light, especially with a fragile patient on board, does not grant license to break the traffic code.
 
Rialaigh said:
You are driving non emergent and an LEO gets behind you and flicks the lights on, you have a patient in the back that is clearly non emergent but does have a medical complaint.
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I'd absolutely pull over and stop. I'd briefly explain to the officer that we had a patient in the back and request to continue on to the hospital and deal with whatever he pulled me over for there. 99.9% of cops would allow this, as most are decent people and would not want to risk that kind of publicity to themselves or their agency. Truthfully, how much time is wasted on that short stop and explanation? Probably no more than if you hit one more red light or a small traffic jam. I'm confident enough in my ability to handle the stable abdominal pain or difficulty breathing patient that is probably in the back with me for another few minutes.
 
In California it's easy for company to get out out of Red light ticket. A lot of times they are not even sent being it cost company money every time they send real ticket out.
 
looker said:
In California it's easy for company to get out out of Red light ticket. A lot of times they are not even sent being it cost company money every time they send real ticket out.
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Easier than that, infractions go against the driver, not the registered owner (traffic infractions in California are criminal violations, not civil). The registered owner has no obligation other than proving that they weren't the driver, including telling police who exactly was driving.
 
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