Man Gets $1,000 Speeding Ticket Trying To Save His Baby
 

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A man in Manitoba, Canada has been given a whopping $1,000 ticket and a suspended driver's license as punishment for speeding to the hospital in order to save the life of his pregnant wife and his unborn child, reported the Winnipeg Free Press.

David Weber and his wife Genevieve one day last March were on their way home from a day of shopping when she began to have contractions. Genevieve was 38 weeks pregnant and the couple knew, because of complications she incurred while giving birth to their first child, they had very little time to get her to the hospital for a Caesarean section.

In what is described as an adrenaline-filled panic, Mr. Weber mashed the gas pedal of his Honda Civic, and began speeding towards the hospital on "lightly trafficked roads," the newspaper reported, at more than 105 MPH.

Unfortunately, the couple flew right by a police officer.

The couple's first reaction was that of relief, thinking the officer would hear their situation and offer them an escort to the hospital. Forget it.

"[The officer] said, 'If you go to [the hospital], I don't want to see you guys speeding,'" David told the Winnipeg Free Press. "I was half-crying... I said, 'We don't have time for a lecture.' (I was) trying to save my wife and baby's life."

After a 15-minute delay, the Weber's were back on the road, but with a baby-gift of a $1,000 speeding ticket, and time running out.

Mr. Weber knew the delay had made it even more imperative that they get to the hospital, so he again mashed the gas pedal. But 30 minutes later, incredibly, the couple was stopped by another police officer who had actually been alerted by the first that the Webers might be speeding again in the direction of the hospital.

The second officer also ignored the situation, started another lecture on speeding, and called an ambulance instead of allowing Mr. Weber to continue to the hospital, or escorting him there. Genevieve suffered through yet another 15 minute delay in pain and agony as they waited for the ambulance to arrive.

Fortunately, the Weber's baby was born healthy at the hospital, but it was a dangerously close call. According to the couple's doctor, Genevieve's uterus was very nearly ruptured.

Mr. Weber decided to fight the ticket with the support of the doctor that delivered the couple's baby. But in spite of the doctor's testimony that speeding was absolutely necessary to save Mrs. Weber and her baby, the police refused to drop the ticket. They did, however, reduce the fine to $400.

And take a suspended license too!

Last month, Mr. Weber attended a hearing about the speeding incident, and in early July received even more appalling news: His license would be suspended for five months.

Only upon the completion of a safe-driving course will Mr. Weber be able to legally drive again. Even after his 5-month suspension is up, he'll also likely incur a heavy financial burden from higher auto insurance premiums.

Police officials would not comment to the Free Press on the situation due to privacy concerns, but maintained that protocols designed for keeping the roads safe were followed in this instance.

David Weber still is holding on to hope that the authorities will grant him some slack due to the obviously special circumstances surrounding his traffic violation. David told the Free Press that he has taken his situation to the media in the hopes of garnering public support.

For the time being, David Weber is left wondering what might have happened had he been delayed even longer. Perhaps a Canadian solicitor will show interest in the case and charge the police with endangering the lives of Mrs. Weber and her baby?

But the larger question is why the police were such sticklers for official procedure in the face of a medical emergency. Certainly, there are many officers who would react differently in the face of the same circumstances.

:speechless:

insane

I challenge any police officer to drive exactly the speed limit if they were facing the same situation.

Seriously... I don't even..

but if they get in a cruiser, all they gotta do is turn on the lights and speeding isnt a big deal..so unfair! the guy is only trying to look out for his family =x lol but at the same time.. like if he did crash it'd be Game Over

why didnt the first officer call an ambulance? i know its not their job, but the officer could of driven the family to the hospital, no? i guess going above and beyond the call of duty isnt part of their job description anymore. i can think of a few things the officers could of done that may have alleviated the situation

I can make the case that if it was him alone, it was a crap story to get out of the ticket.

When the wife is in the passenger seat about to drop a shorty, you give the guy a police escort. Let's do it safely, right?

Nope...we need to be dicks.

Unfortunately, its up to him to take the consequence. They weren't "wrong" to ticket him, just not "right" in using judgement of the circumstance.

He made a decision, and so did they.

post the story and the officer names all over the news & the internet, and let the public opinions and condemnation do the rest....
i am sure that will be lot harsher than the 2 months vacation with pay the officer will get from a formal investigation.

but then I wonder why they didn't call an ambulance in the first place...?? Sounded like they had a very long drive....

or it was a remote area and it would take too long for an ambulance to get there

I thought there was a law about this kind of stuff? That if you're involved in an emergency, like something life or death, certain laws could be ignored with out penalty.

That said I'm sure he's willing to pay the $400 to have his kid and wife be safe.

He would have been smarter if he just called 911 and got an ambulance.
What would happen if he got into a car accident?....that would just be a mess...

you guys are not seeing the bigger picture here....he could have hurt more people; not only his wife and unborn kid.
what would you think if he hit your friend who was crossing the street or you sister/brother/mom/dad in a t-bone accident?

jesus, just because you're in an "emergency" doesn't give you the ability to drive stupid.

You can't argue that the cop's not "wrong" to give them the ticket. Law's the law.

But any stand-up man, cop or not, with any sort of human decency would've at least helped them get there faster.

Given the wife's complications with their previous child, adrenaline would be through the roof - no one, including cops, would be able to drive the speed limit in this situation.

I'm pretty sensitive when it comes to these situations, as a similar incident happened to one of my family members.

So yes, I'm a little mad, bro.

There are stories out there where upon when the police heard the story, they give them an escort to the hospital. Or at least drive them to the hospital. Fuck they even got the doctor EXPLAINING why he had to speed a and they still had to suspend his license.

I don't blame him, it did say he was in "adrenaline-filled panic".

The couple should have called an ambulance. It might take a bit longer, yet then on the ride to the hospital she has paramedics to take care of her if something did happen. How bad would he feel if something had happened to her while he was driving that a paramedic could have treated her for?

Of course, when it comes to the law, no one has a "right" to drive over the speed limit. But understanding that as a person, especially when it comes to saving loved ones, your adrenaline just gets out of control, and you do whatever you can to save them. The "textbook-correct" thing to do would be to call an ambulance, sit and do nothing until they arrive. But given the situation, not to mention the past complications with their first child, he wouldn't know how long the ambulance would be, (it seemed like a long drive) so he did the only thing that was in his control - get to the hospital ASAP.

why no amberlamps?

sure it may take longer to get to the hospital... but if all is needed they can perform emergency care/delivery in the ambulance no?

^ Not sure about this one. But according to the Doctor, speeding was necessary to save the wife and the baby.

All i know is i would have driven a lot faster if my significant other or family member was in need....plus sounds like she would not be able to deliver naturally so the longer she waited the worse off she could have been and herself or baby could have died.

meh... I don't know. The state of emergency is always very subjective. Cases like this is definitely not rare and imagine if every single person is smashing their pedal every time it happens. Like someone said above, calling the ambulance is the best method. What if you hit and kill somebody on the way rushing to the hospital? That's not gonna be a 15 minute delay unless you decide to hit and run.

Sorry I'm on the police side here.

Couldn't the Cop just essort him to the hospital? Is not that hard is it?

I guess the cops needs to meet his speeding ticket quota.

Well regardless of him trying to save his baby's life, he probably endangered 100 others speeding down roads. Im 50/50 on the situation.

So many laws I can't even wipe my ass without getting a ticket. Sometimes we should step out of what is written on paper and think instinctively. The officer should have done the same!

These two were trapped in a difficult situation and decided to drive it instead of wait for the ambulance. I'm sure he wasn't reckless (swerving all over the road cutting traffic) but just speeding on the highway. Who doesn't speed anyway with our stupid limits.

It's like what do you do if you see a loved one getting hurt. Wait, I'll call the cops and wait 30 minutes because it's the law.

QFT