I work in an ER. I see a whole bunch of idiots use the ambulance service for little things. But if it's truly an emergency that requires rushing to a hospital, then yes, call the damn ambulance, we're always thrilled when "real" emergencies come in. Don't be afraid to use it, there are tons of people who abuse it now anyhow. The ambulance fee is only a small fraction of the hospital costs. If one is capable of getting into a car, in MOST cases, it isn't enough of an emergency to be speeding anyhow.

However, the cases that bother me the most are the ones who bring their family in through the front door with an emergency they should've called 911 for. These patients go much longer without proper care, and are less likely to have a good outcome. EMS doesn't just transport people to the hospital very fast...they also provide care at the scene, and care on the way to the hospital, that most definitely cannot be given in a personal vehicle. Like the patient with a blood sugar of 20, which we had a hell of a time getting out of the car in the first place, let alone getting him back to be treated. Or the patient who thought they broke their hip, and for some reason thought it was smart to lay down in the back of a car while their family drove them. Or the patient who fractured their femur in a motorcycle accident...a blatantly obvious fracture....and didn't have it splinted or anything, and was moving it around to show off....this patient didn't know of the deadly things called "fat embolisms" that could come from a fractured bone (and usually the femur).

Thankfully, those particular situations I listed in the end turned out well, I don't feel like recalling the situations where things went sour. However, had they had EMS bring them in, their care would've been a lot less difficult for them, and they probably would've recovered sooner. They would've gotten their pain meds sooner, too, especially in the case of that femur fracture.

Don't risk the patient's life AND the lives of others on the road, just because they need to get to the hospital fast. Just call 911, listen to the damn operator on the phone to give you instructions if need be, and then let EMS take it from there when they arrive. If that idiot driver was carrying a patient having a REAL emergency, then that patient probably died because now EMS has to navigate through that traffic, and then work to retrieve them from that car without breaking spinal immobilization because now the patient needs to be treated for being in an accident as well....and that's assuming that the driver didn't get hurt. Luckily they didn't hit anybody else.

TL;DR: If it's a real emergency, if you're not sure if it's a real emergency, or if you think you'll need to be speeding to get to the hospital....JUST SUCK IT UP AND CALL 911. It's a small fraction of the hospital bill, and they won't even care about your capability to pay until after the patient's been treated...not to mention it increases their chances of living greatly.