Plenty of people in the US drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol despite that they could face felony charges.

Not sure about Germany, but most legal systems have "lesser evil" provisions, so, if you drive a car with an expired license in order to save a life, that should be considered.

That could quickly backfire should it turn out you decided to drive someone to the hospital yourself in spite of having been found not to be trusted with steering a vehicle, and not having called professional help and first-aid on-the-spot, i.e. called the ambulance as you should have done. Assault / injury and failure to render assistance are the terms here.