Why are there so many posts on traffic tickets?

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Having tons of traffic tickets in the last few years before applying shows a pattern of behavior. It's certainly not going to get you auto-rejected but it doesn't look great.
 
Where do you see traffic ticket questions? They only ask about criminal and major violations, on primaries and secondaries at least.
 
USERX said:
Where do you see traffic ticket questions? They only ask about criminal and major violations, on primaries and secondaries at least.
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No, like everyone on SDN is freaking out about traffic tickets.
 
LoveBeingHuman:) said:
Why would they stop you from getting into med school?
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The University of Vermont specifically asks you to list all of your speeding tickets in the past 5 years. Not traffic tickets, speeding tickets. It uses the word speeding ticket. So, apparently they don't care about you running red lights or driving the wrong way down a one way street. Some of us have lead feet, and that could work against us when schools express a concern for such things.
 
MTRN406 said:
The University of Vermont specifically asks you to list all of your speeding tickets in the past 5 years. Not traffic tickets, speeding tickets. It uses the word speeding ticket. So, apparently they don't care about you running red lights or driving the wrong way down a one way street. Some of us have lead feet, and that could work against us when schools express a concern for such things.
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You could try not speeding. They're probably looking to see if you have a pattern of disregard for the rules. Most people don't run red lights very often or at all, but a lot of people speed. It's not hard not to, and it's the second leading cause of traffic collisions (used to be number one before texting and driving was a thing).
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
You could try not speeding. They're probably looking to see if you have a pattern of disregard for the rules. Most people don't run red lights very often or at all, but a lot of people speed. It's not hard not to, and it's the second leading cause of traffic collisions (used to be number one before texting and driving was a thing).
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Actually, it's much safer to go the speed of the other cars around you, even if they are speeding (I learned this through traffic engineering classes). On the other hand, unless you are speeding in Georgia, it's unlikely you'll be pulled over when sticking with traffic. If you go too slow, you're more likely to cause an accident.
 
gonnif said:
So, if doctors in your department or practice are all skimping on proper documentation for patients and procedures, and do so from pressure from corporate management for faster patient turnover, it would behoove you do the same, else you may bring down the average for everyone. Besides, they rarely audit the records, so you are unlikely to be dinged for it.

Your post expresses directly while some schools specifically note speeding tickets as a flag for admissions
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In one scenario, you are avoiding an accident and injuring others. In the other, you are being negligent and causing harm to patients. They aren't very comparable.
 
Wiesal said:
In one scenario, you are avoiding an accident and injuring others. In the other, you are being negligent and causing harm to patients. They aren't very comparable.
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gonnif said:
So, if doctors in your department or practice are all skimping on proper documentation for patients and procedures, and do so from pressure from corporate management for faster patient turnover, it would behoove you do the same, else you may bring down the average for everyone. Besides, they rarely audit the records, so you are unlikely to be dinged for it.

Your post expresses directly while some schools specifically note speeding tickets as a flag for admissions
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Oh come on, that's not a good metaphor. Driving with the traffic is safer than driving considerably faster or slower than the rest of traffic. I learned that in driving school as a teenager and it's proven true when actually driving.
 
DBC03 said:
Actually, it's much safer to go the speed of the other cars around you, even if they are speeding (I learned this through traffic engineering classes). On the other hand, unless you are speeding in Georgia, it's unlikely you'll be pulled over when sticking with traffic. If you go too slow, you're more likely to cause an accident.
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I hate stuff like that. People around you don't drive right and it makes you feel weird to do what you're supposed to. In MA, so many people just don't know how to drive. It stresses me out b/c for some reason I'm super self conscious while driving? Not sure why.
 
gonnif said:
So, if doctors in your department or practice are all skimping on proper documentation for patients and procedures, and do so from pressure from corporate management for faster patient turnover, it would behoove you do the same, else you may bring down the average for everyone. Besides, they rarely audit the records, so you are unlikely to be dinged for it.

Your post expresses directly while some schools specifically note speeding tickets as a flag for admissions
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Actually, it's more akin to blindly following a rule that would lead to a worse patient outcome when you know that a different procedure would be better but might go against beaurocratic policy.

I am just passing on safety information. It's something I had to consider in my line of work. I hope doctors put patient health and safety over beaurocracy as well.
 
mwsapphire said:
I hate stuff like that. People around you don't drive right and it makes you feel weird to do what you're supposed to. In MA, so many people just don't know how to drive. It stresses me out b/c for some reason I'm super self conscious while driving? Not sure why.
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I will admit there is a limitation to this. Going 85 mph on the highway to keep up is NOT recommended. But going 45 when others are going 50 could be more dangerous, depending on the situation. I'm not necessarily saying you should break the law - I'm just stating what tends to be safer statistically - all bets are off in MA
 
gonnif said:
In both cases you are breaking the law.

But what I am telling you is how some adcoms will think of this and why some specifically look at traffic tickets. Whether or not you agree with the analogy, or you question the applicability, it is the reality of medical admissions. With thousands of applications needing to be reduced by at least 80% at an individual school for just hundred of interviews, I can easily see how speeding would be red flags.
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Part of my explanation also stated that you won't get a ticket in most cases if you are driving with traffic. A lot of speeding tickets indicates driving significantly faster than traffic, which is very unsafe.
 
DBC03 said:
I will admit there is a limitation to this. Going 85 mph on the highway to keep up is NOT recommended. But going 45 when others are going 50 could be more dangerous, depending on the situation. I'm not necessarily saying you should break the law - I'm just stating what tends to be safer statistically - all bets are off in MA
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🤣
That's why the road test is so hardass here ( I literally cried after failing the second time for like the most ******* thing).
It's b/c that's how people drive here.
 
gonnif said:
In both cases you are breaking the law.

But what I am telling you is how some adcoms will think of this and why some specifically look at traffic tickets. Whether or not you agree with the analogy, or you question the applicability, it is the reality of medical admissions. With thousands of applications needing to be reduced by at least 80% at an individual school for just hundred of interviews, I can easily see how speeding would be red flags.
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But if it avoids an accident, it's worth it. If you go way slower than traffic you can get rear-ended or people will swerve behind you. Haven't you ever had to do that yourself?( bend the ruled b/c that's what everyone is doing)
On a separate note , do you drive regularly, Gonnif? You're from NY, right? And my understanding is a lot of New Yorkers hardly drive if they live right in the heart of the city.
 
gonnif said:
In both cases you are breaking the law.

But what I am telling you is how some adcoms will think of this and why some specifically look at traffic tickets. Whether or not you agree with the analogy, or you question the applicability, it is the reality of medical admissions. With thousands of applications needing to be reduced by at least 80% at an individual school for just hundred of interviews, I can easily see how speeding would be red flags.
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This explanation doesn't make sense. If at least 80% of thousands of applications need to be reduced to the point that adcom members are willing to strangely compare speeding tickets with ethical behavior, how do underdog applicants even get interviewed and accepted in the first place? The fact that applicants still get acceptances despite having application deficiencies shows that admissions isn't blindly operating on negative selection and are in fact willing to look into the applicant's case as a whole to make an informed decision.

Also the speeding ticket analogy works in the opposite direction: physicians are stuck with an outdated hospital rule that results in worse patient outcomes. Defying that rule by doing what other physicians do and following supported studies can lead to better outcomes. In the case of speeding, if everyone is driving at 10+ miles above the speed limit without much of an issue, driving significantly below that can disrupt traffic flow and lead to traffic congestion. That's why people get speeding tickets for driving too slowly.

Not to mention, some schools explicitly ask applicants in secondaries and interviews to discuss the time they broke/defied a rule and how they managed the situation/what they learned.
 
mwsapphire said:
🤣
That's why the road test is so hardass here ( I literally cried after failing the second time for like the most ******* thing).
It's b/c that's how people drive here.
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I hate to openly admit this, but I have noticed that the New Jersey and Mass drivers that come down to our area in the winter, while sometimes completely annoying with their crazy lane changes, are usually much more aware of their surroundings (and therefore better drivers) than those from the midwest. They're used to having to pay attention all the time.
 
DBC03 said:
Actually, it's much safer to go the speed of the other cars around you, even if they are speeding (I learned this through traffic engineering classes). On the other hand, unless you are speeding in Georgia, it's unlikely you'll be pulled over when sticking with traffic. If you go too slow, you're more likely to cause an accident.
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That's another issue and is called impeding the flow of traffic, which is actually also a moving violation in many states lol. But "having a lead foot" and "keeping with traffic" usually aren't the same thing.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
That's another issue and is called impeding the flow of traffic, which is actually also a moving violation in many states lol. But "having a lead foot" and "keeping with traffic" usually aren't the same thing.
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I'm in total agreement on this.
 
gonnif said:
In both cases you are breaking the law.

But what I am telling you is how some adcoms will think of this and why some specifically look at traffic tickets. Whether or not you agree with the analogy, or you question the applicability, it is the reality of medical admissions. With thousands of applications needing to be reduced by at least 80% at an individual school for just hundred of interviews, I can easily see how speeding would be red flags.
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The law does not dictate morality.
 
DBC03 said:
I hate to openly admit this, but I have noticed that the New Jersey and Mass drivers that come down to our area in the winter, while sometimes completely annoying with their crazy lane changes, are usually much more aware of their surroundings (and therefore better drivers) than those from the midwest. They're used to having to pay attention all the time.
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Can confirm, NJ drivers are more aware because that commute into NYC (if you're not fortunate enough to live by a train station) is hell.
 
cough cough Virginia is the state where it's a misdemeanor. You go to jail if you're caught going more than 15 or 20 above the speed limit. Literally the most unfriendly car-enthusiast state.

Being an EMT I can't really risk getting a ticket so I usually just go no more than 5+ on streets and go with the speed of traffic that's not in the left lane on the highway.
 
Kurk said:
cough cough Virginia is the state where it's a misdemeanor. You go to jail if you're caught going more than 15 or 20 above the speed limit. Literally the most unfriendly car-enthusiast state.

Being an EMT I can't really risk getting a ticket so I usually just go no more than 5+ on streets and go with the speed of traffic that's not in the left lane on the highway.
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Only state where I've gotten a speeding ticket (at a speed trap). I was going below what I thought was the speed limit and saw the cops. I missed the speed change. Less than 10 over, but a coworker got pulled over for going 83, and had to go to court. Traffic lawyers make a killing there.
 
They are popular because traffic tickets are like STDs. Everyone has them.
 
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