RE: Vehicle violations

July 14, 2004

Conley,

It's not a defense that you're driving a vehicle owned by someone else.

It's the driver who has the personal responsibility to be sure the vehicle is

in

compliance and to drive within the law. So yes, if you're ticketed for an

expired inspection sticker or expired registration, all the ramifications

apply. You may, however, be able to talk to the judge about it and get it

dismissed if you can show that the vehicle is now in compliance and that you

didn't

have the power to do anything about it, but that's an individual policy with

some judges. The comeback to that is don't drive a vehicle that's not in

compliance. Unfortunately, a speeding ticket is a speeding ticket for you

personally, no matter what you're driving, unless there's a legal reason for

exceeding the speed limit.

Gene

In a message dated 7/14/2004 9:06:45 PM Central Daylight Time,

cxh@... writes:

I work for a small, perhaps dwindling, private ambulance service in the DFW

area.

Today, one of our EMT's, driving one of our ambulances, was stopped by

local police & was cited, by name, for a vehicle out of date for

inspection, & out of date for registration. (I suspect, don't know, that he

was stopped for speeding, then cited for discovered out of date

insp./registr.) (All our folks except me are 25 or younger, and they all

like to drive at least 20 mph faster than the posted limit, and apparently

feel ambulances are immune from traffic laws, or at least from speeding

laws.)

I've taken myself off duty pending vehicle compliance, because my

(unanswered) question is: If this were to happen to me, what's the extent

of my unavoidable liability? -- Personal traffic ticket? Even if paid by

company? On my state driving record? Affects my personal insurance? Does

it affect my EMT certification with TDH? Anything else?

Thanks for your help, information, etc.

Conley Harmon

July 14, 2004

Conley,

It's not a defense that you're driving a vehicle owned by someone else.

It's the driver who has the personal responsibility to be sure the vehicle is

in

compliance and to drive within the law. So yes, if you're ticketed for an

expired inspection sticker or expired registration, all the ramifications

apply. You may, however, be able to talk to the judge about it and get it

dismissed if you can show that the vehicle is now in compliance and that you

didn't

have the power to do anything about it, but that's an individual policy with

some judges. The comeback to that is don't drive a vehicle that's not in

compliance. Unfortunately, a speeding ticket is a speeding ticket for you

personally, no matter what you're driving, unless there's a legal reason for

exceeding the speed limit.

Gene

In a message dated 7/14/2004 9:06:45 PM Central Daylight Time,

cxh@... writes:

I work for a small, perhaps dwindling, private ambulance service in the DFW

area.

Today, one of our EMT's, driving one of our ambulances, was stopped by

local police & was cited, by name, for a vehicle out of date for

inspection, & out of date for registration. (I suspect, don't know, that he

was stopped for speeding, then cited for discovered out of date

insp./registr.) (All our folks except me are 25 or younger, and they all

like to drive at least 20 mph faster than the posted limit, and apparently

feel ambulances are immune from traffic laws, or at least from speeding

laws.)

I've taken myself off duty pending vehicle compliance, because my

(unanswered) question is: If this were to happen to me, what's the extent

of my unavoidable liability? -- Personal traffic ticket? Even if paid by

company? On my state driving record? Affects my personal insurance? Does

it affect my EMT certification with TDH? Anything else?

Thanks for your help, information, etc.

Conley Harmon

July 14, 2004

Conley,

It's not a defense that you're driving a vehicle owned by someone else.

It's the driver who has the personal responsibility to be sure the vehicle is

in

compliance and to drive within the law. So yes, if you're ticketed for an

expired inspection sticker or expired registration, all the ramifications

apply. You may, however, be able to talk to the judge about it and get it

dismissed if you can show that the vehicle is now in compliance and that you

didn't

have the power to do anything about it, but that's an individual policy with

some judges. The comeback to that is don't drive a vehicle that's not in

compliance. Unfortunately, a speeding ticket is a speeding ticket for you

personally, no matter what you're driving, unless there's a legal reason for

exceeding the speed limit.

Gene

In a message dated 7/14/2004 9:06:45 PM Central Daylight Time,

cxh@... writes:

I work for a small, perhaps dwindling, private ambulance service in the DFW

area.

Today, one of our EMT's, driving one of our ambulances, was stopped by

local police & was cited, by name, for a vehicle out of date for

inspection, & out of date for registration. (I suspect, don't know, that he

was stopped for speeding, then cited for discovered out of date

insp./registr.) (All our folks except me are 25 or younger, and they all

like to drive at least 20 mph faster than the posted limit, and apparently

feel ambulances are immune from traffic laws, or at least from speeding

laws.)

I've taken myself off duty pending vehicle compliance, because my

(unanswered) question is: If this were to happen to me, what's the extent

of my unavoidable liability? -- Personal traffic ticket? Even if paid by

company? On my state driving record? Affects my personal insurance? Does

it affect my EMT certification with TDH? Anything else?

Thanks for your help, information, etc.

Conley Harmon

July 14, 2004

Mr. Harmon,

Regardless of what the vehicle is, the driver of the said vehicle is required to

make sure that the vehicle is legal to operate on the roadway. If an officer

conducts a traffic stop, for whatever reason, and then discovers that the

inspection sticker, registration sticker, etc is expired, then the driver can be

cited. Even though a company MAY pay the fine for the citation( I would not

count on it) the violation can show up on your driving record, which in turns

causes your rates to climb.

If a vehicle is not legal to be on the roadway then it is your responsibility

not to operate said vehicle. Please understand that there may very well be a

reason that the vehicle is not registered or inspected. 1. It may not be up to

state standards for an inspection and/or 2. the owner of the vehicle does not

have current mandated automobile insurance coverage required by law.

Also keep in mind that you can be arrested by the officer for FMFR (failure to

maintain financial responsibility). Even though this is not likely, it does

happen.

Lt. Joby Berkley EMT-P

Reno Police Department

mon wrote:

I work for a small, perhaps dwindling, private ambulance service in the DFW

area.

Today, one of our EMT's, driving one of our ambulances, was stopped by

local police & was cited, by name, for a vehicle out of date for

inspection, & out of date for registration. (I suspect, don't know, that he

was stopped for speeding, then cited for discovered out of date

insp./registr.) (All our folks except me are 25 or younger, and they all

like to drive at least 20 mph faster than the posted limit, and apparently

feel ambulances are immune from traffic laws, or at least from speeding laws.)

I've taken myself off duty pending vehicle compliance, because my

(unanswered) question is: If this were to happen to me, what's the extent

of my unavoidable liability? -- Personal traffic ticket? Even if paid by

company? On my state driving record? Affects my personal insurance? Does

it affect my EMT certification with TDH? Anything else?

Thanks for your help, information, etc.

Conley Harmon

July 14, 2004