Natalie Lucas, 45, cops speeding fine on way to hospital to see dying mother

[pottery beige]

lol@thenumptysaroundhere.com... wowser quite a few of the brainwashed you cant do that masses.....

one day i your mum may be on her deathbed.. take your time getting there... yea right......

[PepeLePew]

If I was in the same situation I'd do the same. But my post trauma priorities would be a bit different. How much resource would be tied up chasing every single claim for 'why I was speeding'. It's the unfortunate mass of people that find excuses for everything that finds the real cases overlooked. As usual the lowest common denominator hurts all as usual.

My dad died in the 80's. I got the news and drive around in a dizzy state. For pulled over for being slightly over the limit. 'Any reason?'

'No officer'.

I was speeding, that's the way it was and it really wasn't significant to me. My dad was dead.

[gtxb67]

i don't think many of us are criticizing for trying to get to see her mother - we all would
most are suggesting that if you do the crime, you do the time

when considering the speed of the car - 91 in an 80 zone, it is maybe safe to suggest that on any other day, the driver of the car may have been doing that exact same speed. while not condoning speeding for the sake of it, if they were doing 30 over on a 3 lane highway with limited side streets and pedestrians, then her excuse is much more valid, when considering the offence as a one off. due to being only 11 kph over, then it seems the speeding part is a normal every day occurrence to me - even if the reasons for the trip was tragic

[P6LTD351]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

lol@thenumptysaroundhere.com... wowser quite a few of the brainwashed you cant do that masses.....

one day i your mum may be on her deathbed.. take your time getting there... yea right......

Not arguing the point of rushing to get to her dying mother. I would probably do the same.

HOWEVER

I would not then use my mother's passing as a way to get out of a fine. My mind would be elsewhere. I think it says more about the character of a person that feels the need to challenge a $133 fine when their mother has died. I would be more than happy to pay $133 to get the opportunity to make it on time.

[H.G]

Originally Posted by eb2monty

Not arguing the point of rushing to get to her dying mother. I would probably do the same.

HOWEVER

I would not then use my mother's passing as a way to get out of a fine. My mind would be elsewhere. I think it says more about the character of a person that feels the need to challenge a $133 fine when their mother has died. I would be more than happy to pay $133 to get the opportunity to make it on time.

EXACTLY

[Joe5619]

I'm sorry, speeding it speeding, pay the fine. What happed if that speeding person crashed into your car & kill one of your love ones?? And she says "sorry I was speeding to get to me mother in hospital". How would you feel then?

I do feel sorry for this person as she has lost her mother (very sad), but that does not make you above the law..

[BaraFGXR6]

Speed Cameras, the scourge of roads.

[T3man]

1. she wasn't driving - all she had to do was nominate who the driver was and she'd avoid the fine anyway.

2. she however chose to fight the fine on the basis of "compassion" for her own situation which is irrelevant as she wasn't the guilty party.

3. conclusion - she has manged to screw over the police via public media.

4. I wish I could get some public (media) sympathy each time I cop a fine.

5. 10 speeding fines --- phhhffft she's not even trying!

6. the "holier than thou" cretins on here really p!ss me off.

[Outbackjack]

10 fines in the past? I still can't see how any Victorian can take their car out of the garage and not get a fine for something.

[gtxb67]

Originally Posted by Outbackjack

10 fines in the past? I still can't see how any Victorian can take their car out of the garage and not get a fine for something.

it is pretty simple really - i speed almost everywhere and rarely get caught
if you do the crime, you need to keep a look out for the cameras - they are easy to spot if you are looking for them
kids on the other hand are much harder to see than cameras

[Outbackjack]

Originally Posted by gtxb67

it is pretty simple really - i speed almost everywhere and rarely get caught
if you do the crime, you need to keep a look out for the cameras - they are easy to spot if you are looking for them
kids on the other hand are much harder to see than cameras

Interesting point of view.

Have you read this? http://www.roadsense.com.au/about.html

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by gtxb67

it is pretty simple really - i speed almost everywhere and rarely get caught
if you do the crime, you need to keep a look out for the cameras - they are easy to spot if you are looking for them
kids on the other hand are much harder to see than cameras

In fairness this happened in townsville, I don't know if you've ever been there but I have recently
and the chances of a child being in an 80 kph zone are a lot less, than in a 60 kph area.

This is all about the police exercising discretion but it's a shame that some little paper nazi
decided to play hard ball instead of having a grown up with understanding review the case.

[kinggee]

I drove down that exact road last Monday evening after my daughter passed out and had a seizure at home while I was at work. My wife couldn't go in the Ambulance with her and so they waited for me to get there before they transported her to hospital. About 20 minutes between work and home, and I did the speed limit for the trip (23kms according to google maps), though it was tempting to go faster. There was little to no traffic at the time, but I knew that QAS was there to treat her, they would leave with her alone if they had to, and I would save little time by speeding.

University Drive is about 5kms long from the Cluden end to the hospital end. By speeding, she got travelled University Drive about 27 seconds faster than she would have normally.

I have been a nurse for nearly 14 years and can only really recall, in my experience, only one or two dying before family arrived. I can understand her reason for speeding (been there myself), however for the distance involved in this case, I personally don't feel it was justified.

My main issue with this incident is her fighting the fine. If it was me, I would personally pay the fine and be done with it.

Also, the end of the news article indicates that a review of the ticket was undertaken and the fine remained. It was only after the newspaper inquired to QPS that the ticket was dismissed.

[FPV GTHO]

Originally Posted by flappist

The world is not black and white and if the saving of 5 minutes is not important in some cases then WHY CAN AMBULANCES EXCEED THE SPEED LIMIT?

Ambulance drivers should be professionally trained to drive and won't have a direct emotional connection to the incident.

[Nic85]

Professionally trained drivers, haha. Even the Police, in QLD at least these days, get a whole 5 days driver training at the Academy before they're loose on the streets.

[FPV GTHO]

That's 5 days more than what everyone else gets. Most offensive and advanced driving courses are single day courses anyway.

[UberKnee]

Originally Posted by The Yeti

I am

Why risk more family members in there?

What was the hurry she died the next day, and I'll wager the baby of the above poster wasn't born enroute or in the hospital foyer

So aside from risk what was gained?

The mother very well could have died that day.

[gtxb67]

Originally Posted by Outbackjack

Interesting point of view.

Have you read this? http://www.roadsense.com.au/about.html

i have never been pinged for something i wasn't doing, even the one that was on a tripod beside a golf course. i hate speed cameras - i believe they indirectly help contribute to the road toll. they are for the sole purpose of revenue - but they light up like beacons and are easy to see

i find the biggest tragedy is not losing some money and gaining demerit points, but the fact that while speed cameras are considered the be all/end all of road safety, our roads will become more and more dangerous

[UberKnee]

Originally Posted by flappist

The world is not black and white and if the saving of 5 minutes is not important in some cases then WHY CAN AMBULANCES EXCEED THE SPEED LIMIT?

I think that's a good point, if getting there a minute or two earlier doesn't mean a thing then why do ambos rush to get someone to hospital? Why do firies rush to put out a fire or cops race to a crime scene, they should just dawdle its not saving much time who cares? [/sarcasm)

[gtxb67]

Originally Posted by jpd80

In fairness this happened in townsville, I don't know if you've ever been there but I have recently
and the chances of a child being in an 80 kph zone are a lot less, than in a 60 kph area.

This is all about the police exercising discretion but it's a shame that some little paper nazi
decided to play hard ball instead of having a grown up with understanding review the case.

i think i get what you are saying and i agree with you
however, my belief is we as drivers need to be able to spot dangers on the road and react accordingly - in my opinion, if someone cannot see a speed camera (in melbourne), they are unlikely to see a kid or animal - the speed cameras light up big time and don't move. a child is smaller, potentially hidden and can jump out unannounced - once again, i do not support them, but I fail to see how they make so much money

[The Monty]

Originally Posted by Nic85

Professionally trained drivers, haha. Even the Police, in QLD at least these days, get a whole 5 days driver training at the Academy before they're loose on the streets.

Actually, for another 8 weeks, its still 2 weeks.

[last fairlane]

Im sorry for her loss
Ive been there before
both mine and my wifes parents
and most of all our grandchild died
I didnt speed and I didnt write to the papers
the mrs got knocked off for 10 over but I was driving
so she just nominated me as the driver
I wasnt happy but I didnt ring the newspaper up
let him cop the $133 fine big deal
we dont know the facts for sure
maybe he didnt have a licence who knows
also his name is not familiar to me
thanks for listening
just a different point of view
we seem to get a lot of people who do like
to see their name in print just for the sake of it

[No.6]

Originally Posted by whynot

OK, call me a brain washed numpties … but I disagree.

A little bit of emergency maths indicates that travelling at 91 kph instead of 80 kph saves that driver 54 seconds of time per 10 kilometres travelled. At the end of the day this is not a lot of time saved. Even if one is rushing to the bedside to hear someone dying words or rushing a pregnant wife to hospital; one needs to keep some perspective and play the percentages. As one’s speed increases, so too does braking distances (about 20 metres from 80 to 90 kph) and the chances one will have an accident. And very few people are able to fully concentrate on driving while emotionally upset. How would it look in the legal courts (and the court of public opinion) if this driver killed or injured an innocent bystander?

And why go to the media about all of this (and let yourself be photographed with the number plate of the vehicle) if you have won an appeal???? From a psychological perspective, all of this screams of “look at me, I am important”.

My advice is that if one finds oneself in similar circumstances is to take a deep breath and not overreact. Keep a presence of mind and work through the problem in a calm and rational manner. In 99.999% of emergency circumstances, that means not speeding.

It would be interesting to hear from the ambos and police who lurk here as to what their views are …

I can see you are trying to use logic, facts and a little bit of mathematics to come to your conclusions. BUT you also need to factor in chance. What if that 54 seconds allows you to BEAT that traffic light that holds you there for 2 minutes at every intersection? What if that 54 seconds allows you to JUST make it before traffic starts to get heavy? What if that 54 seconds gives you enough time to get the green light at all the traffic lights on a stretch of road?

Yes numbers are important but with something as random as traffic conditions, the only numbers you have brought up that truly mean anything is the extended braking distance.

[XRDeeze]

its all happening in Townsville, this arvo saw some Abroginals crashed near The Riverway, and looked like some off duty cop holding the men down, presumably a stolen vehicle.

[MWTB]

Nothing but another grab at being politically correct. Yes, her mother had a stroke, but she was still speeding. What would she have done if a kid ran out in front of the car and they couldn't stop in time because they were speeding? 'Oh, my mum had a stroke, its okay'. I don't think so.

[Auslandau]

She sped a bit .... she got caught .... it got reversed ...... non story really.