Speeding Ticket While Driving to the ER...Should I take to jury?

Question

I was in Austin, Texas and my mom was taken to the Emergency Room in Houston. I know I should'nt have but I drove like a bat outta hell trying to get there since she didnt have anybody esle to be with er. Sure enough a cop busted me going 82 MPH. I didn't mention to him why I was speeding (I was distraught) all I said was I was trying my best to obey th erules.This is my First/ONLY ticket in 10 years of driving history. The cop told me I could take defensive driving but I am curious if a jury would be lenient if I supplied proof that I was in a state of crisis? Thoughts?

By proof I mean I have papers showing my mom was in the ER while I was rushing over.

1) I didnt mention it to the cop because I was not thiking straight = I KNEW I was speeding and I just wanted to get my ticket and move on, vs. arguing with him.

2) No, I would'nt have been escorted all the way from Austin to Houston.

3) My mom didnt have a yeast infection, she suffered a serious fall and all I knew at the time was she was unconscious and on the way to the ER. All of that is documented so this is not a manipulation.

4) yes you DO get the option of a jury in Texas.

Answer 1

It's certainly worth a try. Having the documentary proof would support your claim. However, the judge might say you should have had someone drive you because of the state you were in. In that state, going 82 miles an hour could have gotten you killed. That would have devastated your mother. I hope she will recover well, and you will drive safely to any future emergencies.

When I was 4 I fell on a piece of a heavy broken glass, nearly cutting my right thumb and index finger off. My mom went for help at a neighbor's, but the neighbor was even more frightened than my mom was. So mom drove me to the hospital, with my hand wrapped in a towel. She went through a red light, and a motorcycle cop pulled her over. She couldn't get the words out, so I just held up my hand, with the towel now soaked through with blood. The color drained out of the cop's face. He just said, "Follow me, ma'am." He put on his siren, and got us through every light between there and the ER.

Good luck, let us all know how you do.

Answer 2

At the risk of sounding heartless, what you did was wrong, and dangerous. You may know you had an emergency, but the people crossing your path do not. What if someone on a side road pulled out in front of you?

I have been at accident scenes a few times under these same circumstances. The last one, two of the three occupants had to be lifted by helicopter to a trauma center. It is not worth it.

Anytime you are driving and distraught, you can not possibly pay as much attention to the road as you should.

Your best bet is to try and work out a reduced penalty with the prosecutor. You are going to have a hard time finding 12 jurors who find this acceptable. I would guess at least half of them would have already gotten speeding tickets, and paid them. About 1/4 to 1/2 of them know someone that had an accident involving excessive speed.

If you are traveling 75mph instead of 55mph, you only save slightly more than a minute on a 5 mile trip. The time savings is not that substantial.

With all that said, I am glad no one got hurt, and hope this works out well for you.

Answer 3

I wouldn't go to the courts, simply as another person put it, it may work out more expensive.

What might be in your best interests though, and a friend of mine has done this a couple of times (not a good example because he was just speeding with no reason but it still worked) is this (please note I am from Australia and do not know how strict traffic rules are enforced where you are from):

Write a letter to the police officer (the name of the officer is probably on your ticket, if not, just address it to sir/madam). State your reason for speeding (emergency, mother in hospital, wasn't thinking clearly as a result, was not paying attention to the speed, trying to get there as soon as possible - this will only work if it was an actual emergency, eg. birth, heart attack... something serious etc). State that you understand that speed limits are in place for a reason and that you respect that the law is the law but can they please waive the ticket as you were in a genuine state of distress. Then say that you are more than willing to discuss this with the officer and provide medical paper evidence of the reason your mother was in hospital. It would probably be in your interest to include that you have a clean 10 year driving history, as this may provide extra credibility.

I can't guarantee this will work, however my friend who did it is a 19 year old guy (police normally aren't too leniant on guys that age) and he got away with it twice (well he screwed the system which is wrong but the fact is it worked, didn't work the third time though!). Just make sure you don't come across as 'defensive' or 'pleading' and that your tone is 'neutral'. Naturally it will also depend on (as someone else pointed out) whether your driving was dangerous (in the erratic sense), how busy it was (traffic-wise - the more traffic, the higher risk you are to other innocent drivers), which might also correlate to the time you were driving (peak-hour, off-peak, early hours of the morning etc).

Good luck and congrats on the driving history, I've only been driving 3 years and no ticket yet, but I've just been lucky :)

Answer 4

I am a Texas officer who has written this kind of ticket and I will tell you why:
I have stopped hundreds of people for speeding to various degrees of speed. Situation dictates as far as whether the person gets a citation. Situation meaning road and weather conditions and the serious of the offense. When I hear the "I am on my way to the emergency room" my question is " Are you a physician?" as in Texas this is an exemption to prosecution. I also am not going to follow someone to the hospital or call the hospital. I explain this," You will do nobody any good if you crash and hurt yourself or another person just because you have a need to be somewhere where someone is already receiving care. I then advise the person they are free to contest the citation and take it court, ask for deferred adjudication, or take defensive driving. Last two are available within 15 mph of the speed limit. Nothing in Travis County goes over 65 mph. So your choice is to pay the ticket or take it to court. You must pay court costs regardless if you win the case or not.

Answer 5

What zone were you in? 82 in a 65 or even a 55 zone is not TOO terribly bad! Especially considering you were trying to go see about your unconscious mother at the E.R.! In fact, I would venture to say that most cops would have let you go without a ticket had you told them that immediately. I would have under similar conditions and I have in the past.

While I don't think a jury trial would be necessary, I would advise going to court and offering that evidence to the judge. You can't very well plead not guilty because you were in fact going that fast but you could give that explanation and show the judge your proof that it was so and he would probably give you a break!

Good Luck!

Answer 6

First you will see a traffic court judge.
In Virginia it is mandatory for the amount you exceeded the speed limiy. I do not know if it is there.
Show the Judge the reason, he may reduce the charge but will not void it. When asked for your plead say "Guilty with reason" or what the State of TX allows to mean the same.

Explain the reason, without any extra comment, show the documents. Do not ask for a Jury trial the Judge would recommend much worse in that case after all was over.

Answer 7

First of all, hope your mum is better by now.
Secondly, What ever your reasons are, you shouldn't have bracken the rules and put your self and others in risk.
You should have told the cop on the reason you are over speeding, he might have helped you at the time and made him to see your reason, where he would have understood and appreciated the situation and you wouldn't be here now.
For sure you may take what ever proof to the court, this may make the jury to appreciate your reasons. You have to admit you was faulty. Address a word to the jury in sweet voice and say, any one of you would have done the same if you were in my place.
Wish you luck and regards to your mum

Answer 8

I understand how you feel, but your actions were dangerous. Your Mother was being helped. By speeding, you, and someone else may have ended up in the hospital, or worse. If you weren't stopped, you would have only arrived a few minutes sooner. The Officer may have saved your life. As far as a Jury trial, I really don't believe you could justify your actions, and you just may get a few jurors who had relatives injured or killed in an auto accident.

Answer 9

Well you certainly are within your rights to fight the ticket.

However, you may hear that you should've informed the officer of the impending crisis, he would've most likely provided a police escort.

However, I have a hard time believing that you sat there quietly, while he wrote the ticket, and didn't say a word. I suspect you are using a situation to manipulate yourself out of a ticket. Judges are hip to that. It takes a fair amount of time to write a ticket, if you were so concerned why did you not inform the officer at some point in the process?

Good luck.

Peace.

Answer 10

First of all, your mom wasn't in the car with you that was having the emergency. She was already there at the ER, so it has no bearing on any emergency on your part. 2nd of all, you don't get a jury. Tell it to the judge. Your best bet is to pay the ticket cause you aren't going to win.