Cops and Nurses

[GundeRN]

So a lot of the nurses I have spoken with believe they have a greater chance of being given a warning, instead of a ticket, for speeding if they have their RN badge visible when they are pulled over. Who here has been pulled over on their way to or from work and been given a pass? Who has bee ticketed? Is there any truth to it?

[Princessachula5]

I have been pulled over few times with and without uniform throughout many many years , and I haven't gotten a ticket yet so far, thanks to God. I try to keep my badge visible or I tell them I am a nurse. I just get a warning. It even worked when my husband was driving and was pulled over. I told the cop I was a nurse and he gave us a warning. But he did mentioned that doesn't matter to him. 😁 A cop told me one time he doesn't give nurses tickets because they may be the one to take care of them in the ER!

[SunnyPupRN]

Not sure if it helped me per se, but I was driving in the inner city late at night [my shift ended at midnight and the hospital was in a seedy area] and I got pulled over and asked what I was doing there. I wasn't speeding or anything, no idea why he pulled me over. He questioned me, I told him I was leaving my shift, and he wanted to know what floor I worked on and my shift hours. After that he let me go.

[mrsrogersrn]

One Saturday morning around 7am I was driving home on a rural highway. I was going 100 miles per hour. Yes way too fast but there was no one around and I just wanted to get home. I saw a Highway patrol officer coming the opposite direction. After we passed I saw him flip around and turn his lights on. I immediately pulled over and waited for him to catch up to me. Once he did he said he was impressed that I pulled over and waited and asked why I was going so fast. I explained I had just worked all night and it had been an ugly shift and all I wanted was to go to bed. He checked my paperwork and let me go. He told me I should know better and had no doubt seen the aftermath of traffic collisions.

[abc123RN]

I received a warning one morning on my way to work (school nurse) by a trooper that lives in the school zone where I work. His child will be attending my school soon and just gave me a warning. Later that morning one of the teachers was in the office complaining about the ticket she got from the same trooper that stopped me. Boy was she mad when I told her I got a warning from that same trooper just minutes before he caught her! Scrubs and stethoscope, a girls best friend!

[cccns2016]

I was pulled over for speeding one day on my way to work. I had my scrubs on and I actually had my stethoscope hanging in the rear view mirror and as soon as the officer saw it, she asked if I was a nurse. I said, yes. She said, drive safe and have a good day.

[gcupid]

Special Comradery

My black @!* was in scrubs and got asked. Sir, have you been drinking? Are you doing drugs? etc. On more than one occasion.

[kstepan, ADN]

I just got pulled over yesterday and was let off with a warning. I was getting off night shift, and I was speeding. He asked me if everything was ok, if it was an emergency. I told him no, I just got of work. Told him I'm an rn at x hospital, he proceeded to tell me that I should know better being a nurse on a med surge floor and let me off

[Emergent, RN]

I got pulled over a couple of days ago after getting off work at 11 pm. I had forgotten to put my lights on, had just switched them on.

He checked my documents, I told him I had just gotten off work, he asked me where, I said in the ER, you've probably seen me there.

Of course I was let off with a warning.

[TEXASWAG, MSN, RN]

Unfortunately, I was speeding on my way to work. Was called in for dialysis treatments. I was wearing scrubs and had my badge clipped to my top. Very nice police officer asked if I was heading into work. I told him yes and he gave me a warning.

[Chadmasters, BSN]

I am a current nursing student but before nursing school I was a cop for 5 years. I did not write nurses tickets for a few simple reasons. 1. I was a cop and I understood that I might get shot or in a traffic accident and that nurse that I ticketed might be on the team that saves my life. 2. In my area, an unreal amount of cops are married to nurses. I avoided taking money out of a cop's pocket unless I have no choice (driving recklessly or DUI are the only real reasons I can think of that I would ticket a cop or his family assuming they don't have an attitude). 3. Sometimes, we would have to sit at the local hospital with an inmate and I did not want to have to deal with a nurse I ticketed. 4. I was never one of those cops that sat posted up during times people are trying to get to work on time hunting people to ticket. I found it hypocritical ticketing people for speeding when they're trying to get to work on time when I did the same thing at the beginning of the shift (and I did it almost everyday lol).

[mstacy1]

I got a seatbelt ticket from a state trooper. Wasn't in scrubs but have nurse plates.

[lnd4me]

There is some truth to this. I have a friend who is a police officer, and he has said that he might let a nurse off with a warning if it was a minor violation because he wouldn't want that nurse to go in for the shift worried about a ticket and distracted from patient care because it could cause harm. However, it is up to the individual officer, it is not some sort of secret policy, and if what you are doing is something that is reckless and could hurt someone else, they will not give a free pass just because you are a nurse. I'm also married to a police officer, and he doesn't like to issue traffic citations for minor infractions in general unless what the person is doing could hurt themselves or others...he generally feels he has bigger fish to fry, and would rather get the drunk driver off the streets than the person going a little over the speed limit because he/she is running late for work. In general, it's a judgment call, and I wouldn't count on getting out of a ticket just for being a nurse.