quote:
Originally posted by SHELDIVR:
Life or death medical intervention trumps traffic violations...help the doctor get there with an escort...could be your wife or child he's racing to save. Medical personnel don't drive fast as thrill seekers, they are on a mission. I believe doctors and first responders, responding to emergency situations are operating at an elevated state of awareness and are not nearly the same threat as some of those on cell phones. Your mission is to serve and protect, traffic tickets constitutes a small portion of that duty. I would guess that the incidence of this kind of emergency run doesn't happen all that often...the exception, not the rule.
"Escorts" open officers and departments up to complete civil and criminal liability. Taking a chance on getting an innocent motorist killed by escorting a doctor responding to the hospital is absolutely asinine, and can and has ended badly. If the doctor has to get there that fast, put him in the cop car and drive him there.
Most (read that all the departments I've worked for) have policy against escorting non-emergency vehicles in violation of traffic laws. Actual emergency vehicles as designated by state law are held to the highest of standards...and are charged with operating the vehicle with due regard for the safety of all vehicles. Any officer that encourages and permits a non emergency vehicle to break the law is setting himself and his department up for lawsuit.
Some doctors don't drive fast for thrills, but by no stretch of the imagination can you accurately say that none of them do. And those with less experience and training are much more likely to succumb to "tunnel vision" and be involved in a crash than those who have had EVOC training.
I've stopped numerous doctors over the years. Very few ever failed to make mention they were doctors, some claimed to be en route to a call, but upon a few questions, I found that most were just using their status to try to get out of tickets. Only one or two of the several dozen I've stopped were actually responding to a life threatening emergency.