, ran through red lights racing to hospital
My mum passed away today. I was racing to hospital and I ran 3 red lights it was 6 in the morning is it even worth me mentioning this when / if I get tickets?
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by cupboardie
My mum passed away today. I was racing to hospital and I ran 3 red lights it was 6 in the morning is it even worth me mentioning this when / if I get tickets question mark
No; it's not a defence.
Not a defence but would mention it anyway.
Original post by cupboardie
My mum passed away today. I was racing to hospital and I ran 3 red lights it was 6 in the morning is it even worth me mentioning this when / if I get tickets question mark
Sorry for your loss.
I can understand why you were rushing, but it may not be a reasonable excuse in terms of potential tickets. You can mention it if you like and they might go easy on you for it, but they also may not because at the end of the day you did run red lights. They aren't going to punish you more for it though so if you are willing to take the time to respond if they do contact you about it just see how it goes.
Original post by cupboardie
My mum passed away today. I was racing to hospital and I ran 3 red lights it was 6 in the morning is it even worth me mentioning this when / if I get tickets?
Very sorry to hear that, I hope you and your family are ok.
Unfortunately, I can't see that being a valid defence against the eyes of the law - as cruel as it sounds. You could've caused a crash. It should be treated as every other offender.
@AngryJellyfish can you move this to the cars and motoring forum please.
Original post by cupboardie
My mum passed away today. I was racing to hospital and I ran 3 red lights it was 6 in the morning is it even worth me mentioning this when / if I get tickets?
Please accept my condolences. This must be a difficult time for you.
As the replies above have told you, rushing to be at your mother's side in hospital is not considered a reasonable excuse for running red lights. This is because there was no grievous emergency which could have justified disobeying a traffic command.
Do you have any reason to believe that you were caught? Specifically, were there red light cameras at those junctions? If there were not, it is very highly unlikely that you will be brought to book. Any police patrol cars would have stopped you on the spot.
Again, as others have stated, if you do get a ticket, you have nothing to lose by setting out your mitigating circumstances. I cannot promise that they would be sufficient to evade penalties, however.
Set this matter aside in your thinking for now, and spend some time remembering your mother's great role in your life.
父
Original post by 学生の父
there was no grievous emergency which could have justified disobeying a traffic command.
Whilst I am a stickler for obeying the rules of the road, I think that if someone had a life-threatening condition, no ambulance was available quickly and the longer it took to get them to a hospital, the more likely it is they would die, then it may be justifiable to do things like speed and run red lights if it is done carefully, just as an ambulance driver would do that (just as whilst stealing is almost never acceptable, if your mother was dying and could be saved by some medicine which you could only get hold of by stealing it from somewhere, most people would probably do so and very few people could blame them). If you cause an accident doing so that would be a difficult situation though.
But if you are visiting someone in hospital who is dying, although driving normally may reduce the chances of seeing that person again before they die, it probably can't be justified as you wouldn't be saving anyone by doing so.
Original post by maths42
then it may be justifiable to do things like speed and run red lights if it is done carefully, just as an ambulance driver would do
The difference being, of course, that an ambulance driver has extensive blue light training..
Original post by IWMTom
The difference being, of course, that an ambulance driver has extensive blue light training..
Yes, true. If a light is red at a pedestrian crossing though, say, and there was clearly no one anywhere near who might be crossing and stopping would increase the chance of someone dying by delaying them getting to the hospital then it wouldn't seem like a terrible decision to me if someone were to run the red light in this situation.
With pedestrian crossings where pedestrians push a button when they want to cross, I have always thought that it would be a good idea if a pedestrian could cancel the press. Not sure how many pedestrians would bother or not but when I am walking, it happens all the time that I press the button, then before the traffic lights change it is clear so I cross, but then the lights change and cars have to stop when no one needs to cross. In this situation I would cancel the press if I could and as a driver, I would appreciate it if pedestrians did this when appropriate if it was possible. What do others think of this idea? Alternatively perhaps it would be a good idea if all traffic lights that exist purely for pedestrians to cross just flashed amber like they do at the end at pelican crossings, rather than going red; then if someone wants to cross drivers would stop for them as they do already, but it would mean that there would be no need for drivers to stop unnecessarily, which happens so often.
Original post by maths42
Yes, true. If a light is red at a pedestrian crossing though, say, and there was clearly no one anywhere near who might be crossing and stopping would increase the chance of someone dying by delaying them getting to the hospital then it wouldn't seem like a terrible decision to me if someone were to run the red light in this situation.
Whilst it's not a defence to throw out the case, preventing loss of life is considered as a "special reason" and if accepted by the Court can mean that penalty points aren't awarded - one would still be convicted, though.
Original post by cupboardie
My mum passed away today. I was racing to hospital and I ran 3 red lights it was 6 in the morning is it even worth me mentioning this when / if I get tickets?
It's a strict liability, I'm afraid.
Original post by cupboardie
My mum passed away today. I was racing to hospital and I ran 3 red lights it was 6 in the morning is it even worth me mentioning this when / if I get tickets?
Sorry for your loss, For my Mum I would ran down the whole world undef my car, **** these weak fools who play by the rules created for money. Good Luck few points not the end of the World.
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