Emergency Driving
Discussion
This question has been puzzling me for some time, and as my wife is currently baking our first bun 
a hypothetical situation has raised itself in my head.
Namely; should my wife go into labour and need to get to hospital ASAP how much powerfully built, PH hall of fame worthy if a little anti-social driving would be permissible before you deserved your licence being taken from you?
At the minute I'm thinking worst case scenario and think I'd be comfortable with light body damage to my car or the car of anyone who didn't get the message....too much?
a hypothetical situation has raised itself in my head.Namely; should my wife go into labour and need to get to hospital ASAP how much powerfully built, PH hall of fame worthy if a little anti-social driving would be permissible before you deserved your licence being taken from you?
At the minute I'm thinking worst case scenario and think I'd be comfortable with light body damage to my car or the car of anyone who didn't get the message....too much?
I know you'll find this unbelievable, but other women have had babies! It happens all the time in fact!
If you think it's particularly urgent, call 999, the paramedics will be with you in a handful of minutes, much quicker than you could possibly get your good wife to the hospital.
Congratulations, by the way!
If you think it's particularly urgent, call 999, the paramedics will be with you in a handful of minutes, much quicker than you could possibly get your good wife to the hospital.
Congratulations, by the way!
If someone pranged my car because their wife was about to have a baby I confess I'd be more than a little pissed off.
Leave this sort of thing to the professionals. You coulld easily have your child's birthday as a reminder of the day you killed or maimed someone.
Leave this sort of thing to the professionals. You coulld easily have your child's birthday as a reminder of the day you killed or maimed someone.
Edited by zarjaz1991 on Friday 24th July 21:44
Edited by zarjaz1991 on Friday 24th July 21:45
If you are thinking like that that now. I suggest you lock the car keys away now.
When I did my emergency driving course all around the building in big letters was "NO EMERGENCY IS SERIOUS ENOUGH TO CAUSE AN ACCIDENT" What you wife needs (and its a big if) is smooth run with a man who is calm. The last thing she needs is a headless idiot driving like his car is invincible and putting her and your child at risk.
When I did my emergency driving course all around the building in big letters was "NO EMERGENCY IS SERIOUS ENOUGH TO CAUSE AN ACCIDENT" What you wife needs (and its a big if) is smooth run with a man who is calm. The last thing she needs is a headless idiot driving like his car is invincible and putting her and your child at risk.
Drumroll said:
If you are thinking like that that now. I suggest you lock the car keys away now.
When I did my emergency driving course all around the building in big letters was "NO EMERGENCY IS SERIOUS ENOUGH TO CAUSE AN ACCIDENT" What you wife needs (and its a big if) is smooth run with a man who is calm. The last thing she needs is a headless idiot driving like his car is invincible and putting her and your child at risk.
Well you've clearly never seen James Bond When I did my emergency driving course all around the building in big letters was "NO EMERGENCY IS SERIOUS ENOUGH TO CAUSE AN ACCIDENT" What you wife needs (and its a big if) is smooth run with a man who is calm. The last thing she needs is a headless idiot driving like his car is invincible and putting her and your child at risk.
. I can kind of see your point though but In my hypothetical scenario I know I'd hate to end up blaming the idiot who didn't get out of the way and the subsequent delay for the loss of her or the cute little parasite. I could ring 999 and probably would in the real world I'm just entertaining the thought in my head of turning into Ken Block (without the rally crashes) and getting her to the hospital in record time.
As others have said if, and i is a big if, (most babies are born quite normally with plenty of warning.) dial 999 and let the professionals do there job. in all seriousness If you can't be calm and safe, don't even think about driving.
Who's to say there wouldn't be an expectant father driving the other way, who gets priority then. Oh and don't forget the expectant dad who has just been told his partner has gone into labor and is rushing from his work. or the parents who's sick child has been rushed to hospital and the list goes on. all needing to get to hospital, but in the great scheme of things none of them have any more "rights" than the other.
Who's to say there wouldn't be an expectant father driving the other way, who gets priority then. Oh and don't forget the expectant dad who has just been told his partner has gone into labor and is rushing from his work. or the parents who's sick child has been rushed to hospital and the list goes on. all needing to get to hospital, but in the great scheme of things none of them have any more "rights" than the other.
you will get plenty of notice, and if like me, you end up at the hospital and getting told to go away and come back there will be no issues, although I did drive my wife to hospital as we were closer to lots more hospitals than the one she was due at, let just say I drove spiritedly but there was plenty of time to have driven normally and was waiting in the hospital for ages.
More than one panicking member of the public has crashed trying to get a loved one to hospital. Most women giving birth don't need such a rapid response. Go to antenatal classes and you'll learn more about this.
Roadcraft said:
No emergency is so great that it justifies an accident- better to arrive late than not at all.
If it's so much of an emergency that you can't drive at normal speeds, you shouldn't be the one driving. If you call 999 and say "my wife's having a baby", you'll get a very, very quick response.When my first was born I had a phone call at work telling me to get home. It just so happened that there was a policeman there who offered me an escort home with blues and twos. I declined because my wife told me she was staying in the pub to finish her lunch before going home. All being well you will have plenty of time and will spend far more time in the hospital waiting and being sworn at etc. than you will travelling.
Subsequent urchins can arrive quicker mind. We'd agreed to look after a friend's two when number three arrived. I had a text at 5:35 asking if they could bring them round as it had started. Baby arrived at 6:22!
Congratulations by the way!
Subsequent urchins can arrive quicker mind. We'd agreed to look after a friend's two when number three arrived. I had a text at 5:35 asking if they could bring them round as it had started. Baby arrived at 6:22!
Congratulations by the way!
The sarcastic response would go something like-
I bow to your godlike, driving skills that allow you to confine crashing into other cars to 'light body damage'.
The rude and sexist one-
WTF, I thought it was the women that lost brain cells during pregnancy.
However I shall put this down to a mild derangement brought on by the excitement of the upcoming joyous event. Sit down, take some deep breaths and calm down.
Of course if you live in the middle of nowhere and an ambulance will take 30 minutes to arrive it is just possible that in your situation I may find speed limits even more optional than normal.
I bow to your godlike, driving skills that allow you to confine crashing into other cars to 'light body damage'.
The rude and sexist one-
WTF, I thought it was the women that lost brain cells during pregnancy.
However I shall put this down to a mild derangement brought on by the excitement of the upcoming joyous event. Sit down, take some deep breaths and calm down.
Of course if you live in the middle of nowhere and an ambulance will take 30 minutes to arrive it is just possible that in your situation I may find speed limits even more optional than normal.
When my other half went into labour, she sent me to the chippie for fish and chips as it would be a long night, we sorted out my step-son a bed for the night with my parents and gently cruised to the hospital, still with several hours to spare.
I think the drive home alone at 4AM after a very emotional night was more of a danger.
I think the drive home alone at 4AM after a very emotional night was more of a danger.
GokTweed said:
This question has been puzzling me for some time, and as my wife is currently baking our first bun a hypothetical situation has raised itself in my head.
Pissed? Reporting directly from Mumsnet? Both? a hypothetical situation has raised itself in my head.GokTweed said:
At the minute I'm thinking worst case scenario and think I'd be comfortable with light body damage to my car or the car of anyone who didn't get the message....too much?
You seriously think that your wife being up-duffed gives you licence to ram your way through other traffic when driving her to hospital?I take back my previous question regarding you being pissed as I think you must actually be on f
king glue.It's nothing like the films, you won't be doing rally driving round the wrong side of roundabouts.. You'll have plenty of warning and you'll be well in hospital by the time stuff starts to happen.
As said above the 4am drive home after the most emotional day of your life will be the most dangerous part!
Good luck.
As said above the 4am drive home after the most emotional day of your life will be the most dangerous part!
Good luck.
essayer said:
As said above the 4am drive home after the most emotional day of your life will be the most dangerous part!
Good luck.
Forgot about that but I drove the best part of 15 miles home at 3AM with no lights. It was only when I reached the Avonmouth bridge on the M5 and the street lights disappeared that I realised... Good luck.
CAPP0 said:
Most areas, it only started today. We've another 6/7 weeks of this sort of thing to endure before abnormal service is resumed early in September.
Ain't that the truth.GokTweed said:
How much anti-social driving would be permissible before you deserved your licence being taken from you?
Think I'd be comfortable with light body damage to my car or the car of anyone who didn't get the message....
And so it begins....Think I'd be comfortable with light body damage to my car or the car of anyone who didn't get the message....
Whilst I wouldn't disagree with what has been said about waiting for an ambulance etc. during swmbo's last pregnancy she had a bleed due to pre-eclampsia. She was allowed home, but was warned it would happen again and when it did to get to the hospital asap. Sure enough, 4 weeks later it happened, we didn't even call 999, straight into the car and straight to the hospital, everything worked out fine. Another girl we know had the same thing, they waited for the ambulance, and the delay in getting to hospital led to complications and their child has developmental issues.
The moral of the story is you need to react to the circumstances but even an emergency doesn't give you carte blanche to drive like a tool.
The moral of the story is you need to react to the circumstances but even an emergency doesn't give you carte blanche to drive like a tool.
Bigyoke said:
Another girl we know had the same thing, they waited for the ambulance, and the delay in getting to hospital led to complications and their child has developmental issues.
Firstly, I'm sorry for your friend's child's difficulties.It's difficult because you have to take where you are into account- for example, what someone does in rural Yorkshire may be different to what someone else does in central Manchester. However, it's human nature to worry about examples where a 999 response wasn't great, which is a risk but a much lower risk than suddenly doing your best Starsky and Hutch impression.
Ultimately, you have to balance the very visible but actually remote risk of a 999 response not getting to you against the less visible but actually far higher risk of coming to harm by trying to barrel your own way to hospital. For the bulk of the population, staying where you are and calling 999 is a less risky option far, far, far more of the time than taking matters into your own hands.
If anyone is in the minority for whom their own response is safer- and fewer people are than think they are- then driving briskly but still within your limits is the order of the day. Bear in mind that your limits will likely be lower than normal because of your own agitated state when a loved one (or two) is at risk.
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