Cops and Nurses

sallyrnrrt, ADN, RN · Nov 23, 2016

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?

Thank you Jesus.....

there re has been many times I was given a warning, because of recognition, ho sp. parking sticker, or stethoscope around my neck.....

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2016

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).

Actually, I was always nice to cops that have to sit with patients so hopefully they will be willing to help out if we have a very, very bad patient or if I ever get pulled over.

Although leaving a FD shirt in the back works better. I have my helmet in my car under a blanket.

sallyrnrrt, ADN, RN · Nov 23, 2016

Oh my Texas RN/RRT lis. Plates probably helps......

i I also think as ER nurse, have been given "greater pass". As. Our closer working experiences, especially rural settings......

Although in early 70s I remember, a city of Memphis, cop telling me, cops don't give nurses tickets.....we may need each other......

Angela0120 · Nov 23, 2016

On my way home from work, plates were recently changed on my car and I couldn't get the screws off in a rush to get to work I left the old ones on. Sure enough got pulled over on my way home saw my badge on and let me go! It works ðŸ˜

Jaclyn2130 · Feb 3, 2017

I've been an RN for almost 11 yrs. Got pulled over about 3 yrs into my career and was in scrubs. He ran my tags and let me go telling me to "slow down, they might need me someday."

But I definitely do not expect a professional courtesy.

roadkillnurse · Mar 20, 2017

Most of the time, it depends on your attitude. If you have the attitude of "I'm a nurse, you should let me off with a warning," expect a ticket. If you instead are "Yes, I was speeding, I know I shouldn't" you will have a better outcome. It also depends on how fast you were going, was it just speeding, or something else. I know of one nurse that popped off to a highway patrolman and told him he better hope she's never his nurse (along with several other things.) She ended up getting called before the nursing board...wasn't pretty.

This has not only been my experience, but I'm married to a cop also...I asked him what his guidelines are...I know some officers that ticket everyone regardless...if they pull you over for speeding, you are getting a fast driving award. But they are the exception, not the rule.

I myself try not to push it, just because I don't want the spouse to have to justify to his bosses why I should get a break all the time, and others don't...so its just easier not to speed (ok, a little, but not much...most cops wont pull you over for 5-10 miles over the speed limit...they have better things to do.)

SuccessInProgress · Mar 20, 2017

Got a ticket on my way to work at 5:30am on a Sunday morning!! Said he didn't care where I was going. My ticket also said it was heavy traffic and pouring rain. LIES. State trooper didn't care about anything but himself! Jerk.

CeciBean, ASN, RN · Mar 20, 2017

I got out of a ticket once when a cop pulled me over for supposedly not stopping at a stop sign (I had). Then he noticed my parking tag, asked me if I worked at that hospital, and on what floor. I told him, and he said "I'll let you off with a warning this time, ma'am, but be careful in the future." I also got through New Year's Eve roadblocks very quickly. The first time I hit one I was fairly close to home. I stopped, of course, and the officer shined his light in, saw my scrubs, and asked me if I'd just gotten off work. I said yes and he asked where. I told him, and he said, "Well, I guess you haven't had time to party yet!" and waved me on through. The next year I didn't even get stopped; the officer saw my parking tag and just waved me through. Both times I'd just gotten off my PRN 3-11 shift.

Mustlovecats · Mar 20, 2017

I got pulled over for running a yellow light that turned red as I went under it. No scrubs, no badge. Told him I was on my way to work for education (I actually was.) he told me he did not like to ticket nurses. I got off with a $25 fee for not having current proof of insurance.

hairspray · Mar 21, 2017

For LE grace purposes, my ex used to drive around w his whitecoat and 'MD' badge in the passenger seat of his Z. It's a thing w healthcare for sure.

EDNurse1 · Mar 24, 2017

I was pulled over doing 76 in a 55. Told the officer that my ED was on divert and I was trying to haul ass to help out. No ticket and he gave me a lights and sirens escort.

RNOTODAY, BSN, RN · Mar 27, 2017

I have a friend who is a LEO and we discussed this a couple months ago. He said that unless the offense is something egregious (DUI, 20mph over the limit, driving on the sidewalk), he never writes tickets for nurses, clergy, or teachers. (The teachers thing surprised me until I stopped to think about it -- their work shift can be just as hellacious as ours... I know I couldn't handle it!)
As for the people who are offended that nurses get "professional courtesy" from cops, I just have this to say: Deal with it. EVERYONE has the chance to not get ticketed for any minor offense at any time for any reason. Life's not fair -- never has been, never will be. Here's a straw, suck it up, buttercup.
I've been ticketed before I was a nurse, and I've been let off with a verbal warning before I was a nurse. All of my incidents were speeding, 5-10mph over the limit, on a highway. I'm not out there swerving back and forth or going 75mph through a residential school zone and drifting around corners. Speeding is not always dangerous -- it certainly can be, but it is not always so.
Many speed limits are set artificially low in my area -- a few years ago the state mandated that speed limits be raised on many main roads around here because they did not match the needs of the traffic in the area. In one village there was a road that had a different speed limit for different sides of the road, and that "just happened" to be where the cop would sit and write speeding tickets (and the magistrate whose office collected a good portion of the fine "just happened" to let the dual speed limit remain in place).
If a cop wants to give someone a pass, that's up to the cop to decide, not a self-righteous nurse on an internet forum. I'm sure you don't want a cop telling you which size IV catheter to insert, or how long a piece of tape to use to secure a bandage.

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