Should DOT mandate 68mph speed limiters?

A driver safety instructor told us your suposed to slow down let them pass He didnt say to get off the road heck you would be in the ditch all the time most people run their flashers in that case.Ive had 4 wheelers run my bumper flashing their lite pass then turn in to their place of work.

 

LOL...I was actually in mule "burnout" during that twisted phase of life.I was into class 5/1600 VW Baja Buggies,Honda XR600r dirt bikes and Ultra Classic H.D.s(aka garbage wagons).

It was during the late 80's early 90's before it was"cool" to ride bikes and I found out later the fact that I had an H.D. almost cost me the chance at my first LEO job.WHAT would the public THINK.

It was alright if you rode one of "THEIRS" on the job,but it was taboo to own one.lol.Crazy,crazy world we live in and the craziest are in charge of the asylum.

 

what's wrong with being a LEO? I did a little time as one, too. Sorta.

Mule - then you may have heard what EMS professionals call lights and sirens?


Camoflage

 

LOL..After I finally got sick of it a couple of weeks into the job,I would put the hood ornament on the centerline and mash 'er to the board...Kinda the "Get back or Get Beat Back" sorta thing...LOL....But in the interest of fairness,I had a LOT of oncoming drivers pull way over and turn their headlights off,just leaving their parking lights on.If I'm not in heavy traffic,around a curve or over a hill,I'll do that for them now.

Speaking of EMS...I've always thought they were some of the hardest working,most under appreciated people on any scene out there....They work their ### off and everyone else gets the credit for it.

Everyone always talks about how wonderful the Dr. was."He sewed little Jimmy's goober back on after he cut it off playing with scissors in the bathroom".....If it wasn't for some poor Medtech on scene having to reach in the crapper,get said goober and pack it in ice and transport Jimmy and the afore mentioned goober to the ER and all the while keeping Jimmy stabil and comfortable at 75 mph in a 5 ton + vehicle in heavy traffic ,the Dr wouldn't have had the chance to reattach Jimmy's goober so that later in life he can spawn another ####### like himself.

 

Sometimes, the ride in the back seems to take forever. I have had to have some very stressful times in the back and convinced a man having a heart attack that he was only having heartburn and that the driver was cranky and was in a hurry to get a cup of coffee at the hospital.

He later ran into me and said I saved his life. He said I knew he was having a heart attack and never let him know it. I looked him in the eye and told him, "Only one of us needed to know at the time."

 

I couldn't agree more!

 

I'm not that cool. I would be m-##### everything. I would be cussing. Nobody would be in good shape on my shift!

 

It was 6:15 am in the morning. Volunteer time in my small town. I worked for the county ambulance on the day shift and volunteer at night. None of the other volunteers showed up. I knew what I had the moment I saw him. Just gave quick vitals to the ambulance enroute. No calling for any codes. Calmly took vitals, history and all. Loaded when arrived. Other medic asked if I needed to get vitals before leaving. Just told him to go. After aspirin, nitro didn't work. Walked up front and told driver nothing was working and to move it. Then just told story to patient.

 

I don't know how you do it....I rode in the back of Ambulances a few times to restrain combative subjects and I rode as a customer once and they make me very uncomfortable.

 

waaaay back in the dark ages, I *drove* an ambulance. With two 'medics in the back. Rural community, so lots of lopped off fingers and the like. I wasn't allowed to even touch the pram if the patient was on it. I did get to haul the various kits, though.

Some scenes were... interesting, but most were ho-hum (from our point of view, I'm sure the victim(s) had other thoughts)

I quit after a wreck where a bunch of my HS classmates littered the countryside with body parts. 12 kids in one pickup, 120 mph (the police figured, based on tracks) and 3 trees on a curve. End of shift, I told the supe that I'd not be back that night. He was very gracious and understanding, even held the spot open for me for a month - took the shifts himself. I like to think I'd have been fine if there'd been counseling, but no such luck.

It took years before I could even talk about it. Even today, though, my wife won't tell me about some of her calls. It's not accidents, though, it's kids. I do NOT react well to kids in trouble.

Some of her calls have been... well, hysterically funny, if you have a *really* sick sense of humor. Even blacker than most EMS/Police humor. a mile one is the peeping tom who got caught by the police up in a tree. He did the panic routine and fell about 30 feet to the sidewalk below. The big problem was, he'd neglected to zip up and during the plummet, his shorts got caught - momentarily - on a branch. Yeah. Absolutely gone. And nobody was willing to climb the tree to look for the missing bits.

So, yeah - even in spite of that, I have *tremendous* respect for ambulance crews. When they roll up on a scene, they do NOT know what's going to greet them. Dispatch is wrong at least 50% of the time (not the dispatchers fault - the reporting party provides incorrect info), so the team on scene has to determine - from scratch - what's wrong. ER staff typically has advance notice of what's arriving (even on walk-ins), so they can prepare a bit.

urk.. I'd better stop here. Before I get on my soapbox and bore the heck out of everybody.

I'll just leave it at this: I've decided my wife is certifiably insane. Paramedics are ALL nuts - but she's the only one who's been married to me for 24 years.