A Northland doctor, convicted for speeding to a medical emergency, has received another ticket for rushing to help a person trapped under a crashed car.
Tim Malloy, president of the national Rural General Practice Network, said yesterday that it was unacceptable that doctors responding to emergencies continued to be exposed
to speeding tickets.
In the Whangarei District Court on Thursday, Malloy admitted driving at 112 km/h in a 70 km/h zone at Kaiwaka, 18km northwest of Wellsford, on April 14. He was convicted and discharged without a fine.
He had been snapped by a speed camera while responding to an emergency 111 call.
Malloy yesterday revealed that he had received a second ticket.
In the second incident, a speed camera at Te Hana, 5km north of Wellsford, snapped him doing 10 km/h over the limit.
"I went to a motor vehicle accident, with a person trapped under a car. I was the first one to arrive, about 30 minutes before the ambulance."
Malloy said he had pleaded guilty because he had broken the law as it stood.
"There's a speed camera frequently sitting about 3 km north of our medical clinic and every time we go out on a response we have to go past it."
He said efforts were being made to get a law change that would acknowledge the role doctors had in emergency care.
About 250 doctors around the country, including Malloy, are part of the Primary Response in Medical Emergencies scheme, which calls out doctors and other healthcare providers to rural emergencies.
He said the police administration had indicated concern at doctors driving above the speed limit in emergencies, but the feeling was different among grassroots police in rural areas.
"They are entirely supportive of us and they rely on us to back them up in circumstances where we work together."
But the police national road safety manager, Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald, said yesterday that the police would not support moves that would allow doctors to speed to emergencies.
- NZPA
