Armless Saskatoon man fighting seatbelt ticket

[ercchry]

Originally posted by Kloubek


I'm aware some vehicles have automatic seatbelts. I had one.

But most of those vehicles are old, and most are also sporty vehicles which don't lend themselves well to being converted to unique controls - let alone bulky things like wheelchairs, etc which these individuals usually have to cart around with them.

if only... the system could be removed... and... err... whats the word... oh yeah. be retrofitted...

Originally posted by lilmira
Until we have a lot of double amputees flying through windshields, cut him some slack. If we have to break some rule to make his life a bit more enjoyable, so be it.

you know what would make my life better?

[lilmira]

Originally posted by ercchry

you know what would make my life better?

I'm guessing not double amputation then getting ticket for not wearing seat after going through rehabilitation and modification to your vehicle so that you can get around on your own trying to live a normal life? back at you

[DeleriousZ]

Originally posted by lilmira
Until we have a lot of double amputees flying through windshields, cut him some slack. If we have to break some rule to make his life a bit more enjoyable, so be it.

hahaha holy shit, if there is a hell, I'm going to it for snickering at your first phrase

[ercchry]

Originally posted by lilmira


I'm guessing not double amputation then getting ticket for not wearing seat after going through rehabilitation and modification to your vehicle so that you can get around on your own trying to live a normal life? back at you

guy shouldnt have tried to make friends with a boat prop

all i've been saying all along is MODIFY the vehicle properly...

but i have personally been hit by a motherfucker that was missing a limb... cause they had issues with their prosthetic... so i MIGHT be a little bias...

[lilmira]

To be honest, I was a bit surprised that such modification can be done for him to drive around legally to begin with. Can you imagine the reaction he would get renewing his license?

[Gman.45]

I initially thought Coolude's post made the most sense, and I agreed, but FraserB has a point too, ignorance of the law, even if the law is stupid, is no excuse in our country, fortunately or unfortunately.

Yes, it isn't fair he wasn't given notice that the law had changed and he needed a new exemption letter, and yes, the fact that he wasn't given still doesn't excuse him from not having it, so far as the letter of law goes in Canada.

I'm sure if he's that hard up he can get a couple of small donations to pay for his ticket and get the permit now, and in the grand scheme of things, it's not really a big deal.

One my father just brought up, who's a cop with 30+ years time in, is that he once wrote up a guy who was too fat to put on the seat belt in his car. The same situation applied in Saskatchewan back then around 1995, you could get a permit if you were obese back before 2000 apparently, but he never bothered and didn't know that, but the ticket still stuck. My father was never big fans of fatties though, and I think that had something to do with the guy not getting a warning, as my father HATED writing tickets for anything other than DUI, and used to eat piles of crap from his superiors over that.

[95EagleAWD]

Originally posted by Cos


So someone with two arms who is losing their parent and is speeding to the hospital is less important and would get a ticket than a guy with no arms who knew for 30 years he didnt have arms and could have got an exemption?

What the hell are you talking about?

Originally posted by firebane


Sorry..

1) Guy drives with no seatbelt
2) Guy drives with his feet

I really don't care how long he has been doing this but these are 2 things that to me scream "Unable to properly maintain a vehicle under duress situation" and I wouldn't have necessarily ticketed him but something HAD to be done.

So what do you do? Beak at a guy on the side of the road with no arms to put his seatbelt on? Of course not. That's rude, impolite, almost condescending and generally just being an asshole. You let this guy go. In the grand scheme of things, him not wearing a seatbelt isn't going to be a world changer. How are you to judge how he can control his vehicle? Guess what? Most of us don't wear seatbelts at work. We don't have to, we're exempt. I don't wear it because it gets tangled in my gear and if I have to get out of the car fast, I don't need to get reeled back in by my seatbelt caught in my baton holder or flashlight or something. It has zero effect on my ability to drive a car.

Originally posted by FraserB


So if you pulled me over for no seatbelt and I told you I had a shoulder injury which prevents me from wearing it, I would not get a ticket? Even if I couldn't produce a letter showing my exemption?

If he can show that he has been granted an exemption, then he should not be required to pay the fine. He's known for 30 years he can get an exemption but hasn't, why hasn't he gotten one?

That would completely depend on how good of a salesman you are. If you can convince me that you're not filling me with a story full of shit, then you might just get a warning. Am I sucker for doing that? Maybe I am. But I bet you don't give a damn because you just saved some money.

Originally posted by A790

Proof that not all cops are assholes.

No we're not, we're people too. MOST of the time, we're not. You know when I'm an asshole at work? When you are first. The attitude you give is generally the attitude you get. And even then, if it's not worth the fight, I let it roll off my back. I'm not writing you a ticket as a personal issue, it's my job.

Originally posted by FixedGear
The law is the law. should we let people with poor vision drive through stopsigns and red lights just because they can't see? No, we make them wear corrective lenses when driving.

I have to wear corrective lenses to drive (it says on my license). If I didn't wear them one day and drove through a red light, should I expect the cop to let me off just because I couldn't see the light?

No, because you know that you had to wear glasses. This man didn't know he needed a new letter. Also, what would him not wearing a seatbelt have to do with the safety of operating his vehicle? He can still see and control it. If "the law is the law" I really hope I meet you on the street one day. We'll see how you like "the law is the law." Because those 1 km/h over, 2 demerit tickets could really add up. (And I'm saying that as a general statement, obviously I would never target anyone on the board, but you get my point. I hope.)

Originally posted by Gman.45
I'm sure if he's that hard up he can get a couple of small donations to pay for his ticket and get the permit now, and in the grand scheme of things, it's not really a big deal.

Yes it is, because it makes all of us in uniform, regardless of the department, look like assholes for no reason. ZERO discretion was used here, and I think the RCMP looks bad for it, and that's coming from a PO. They wave this guy by and that's that, no story. Nobody would ever know his name.

[JRSC00LUDE]

Originally posted by FraserB
I don't think it's unreasonable to ask that people be aware of the requirements of maintaining any special circumstances.

Seriously? That's the hill you're going to stand on? Do you review provincial legislation every year to see if something hidden somewhere inside it is going to affect you?

If there are changes to law that affect a certain subset, it should be the responsibliity of the state to inform that subset. That did not happen in the past 13 years, through annual license renewals, misc. traffic stops, etc.

If you don't see why they should cut the guy some slack and toss it then you're just being willfully obtuse and argumentative.

[max_boost]

Cut the bro some slack. Ticket not necessary.

[Cos]

.

[95EagleAWD]

Originally posted by Cos


You're saying that he is breaking the law but has a reason. I am arguing another situation where someone would be breaking the law but would also have reason, which is in my opinion a better reason to be breaking that law. Neither person has a LEGAL reason to be breaking the law and yet the implementation of the law would be different by 99.9% of people in uniform.

My argument is that a person with a disability shouldn't get out of laws. There are ways to get out of these laws legally and at the time of my post I believed he knew about them but decided against doing it.

I'm saying that perhaps this person should not be bound by the same laws, since he seems to lack the appendages needed to use a seatbelt.

If someone told me their mother was dying at the hospital when I had them stopped, and their story didn't sound like crap, I'd drive them myself. It's safer and it helps the situation.

[Cos]

.

[95EagleAWD]

Originally posted by Cos

That being said police are there to enforce the law, not interpret it. The law says you must have an exemption letter or wear your seatbelt. He was doing neither. He is in violation of the law.

Trust me, we do a lot of interpreting.

And just because he is in violation of the letter of the law, does not mean he is in violation of the spirit. He thought he had his exemption.

It's like the distracted driving law. It's applicable when you're waiting for a train to cross. Anyone here not pull their phone out and go on Facebook when there's a train crossing the road? Didn't think so.

[Gman.45]

Yes it is, because it makes all of us in uniform, regardless of the department, look like assholes for no reason. ZERO discretion was used here, and I think the RCMP looks bad for it, and that's coming from a PO. They wave this guy by and that's that, no story. Nobody would ever know his name.

You're kidding right? What department are you with btw now, I remember you were doing AC work before, and were in the hiring process of one of the departments in Alberta, I just never kept up with which you joined.

If you think that THIS incident is what makes the RCMP look bad, you need a lesson on current events. This is a SEAT BELT ticket for gods sake. RCMP officers like Calgary's Customs and Rxcise division's Kevin Lochart in Alberta, who was fired for being involved with organized crime and a very prominent Edmonton lawyer who represents organized crime, or RCMP officer Rob Sidhu, who was fired and is in prison for more of the same with BC drug dealers. Other RCMP officers who are about to be front page news for giving targeting information and locations to "friends" of theirs in organize crime so they could and did eliminate their competitors in the BC drug trade...

Now THOSE guys make the RCMP and other cops look bad, not some guy who decided to write up somebody who didn't have the proper permits to exclude him from getting a citation. I realize discretion is a part of the job, however in a traffic blitz situation where the officer in question is surrounded by other officers, it becomes harder to exercise it. I'll bet you anything that if it was just a regular stop that no seat belt ticket would have been issued by the same officer. In fact, the guy even stated he's been yanked over many times for other tickets, but always skated on the seat belt thing, which proves the point.

All this noise over a seat belt ticket, when you've got cops doing things 1000x worse out there....kind of ridiculous.

edit -

It's like the distracted driving law. It's applicable when you're waiting for a train to cross. Anyone here not pull their phone out and go on Facebook when there's a train crossing the road? Didn't think so.

I understand what you're saying, however there are people, including other cops, that will argue that precise thing, considering people often let off their brake pressure without noticing it, and by having their head in their lap instead of out the window but themselves and others in jeopardy in just such situations. That law is made for the lowest common denominator, not switched on enthusiast drivers, who even still can make that same mistake. One of the officers I used to shoot Police Pistol Combat with before I did my first tour in Afghanistan said that texting/smartphones increased the number of bumper bender accidents in drive through lanes by a factor of at least 10 in his opinion, sort of the same situation of sitting in a line where you say that you would use discretion when writing a ticket, like waiting for a train. Am I correct in picking up what you're putting down?

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by 95EagleAWD


Trust me, we do a lot of interpreting.

You're a cop?

[95EagleAWD]

Originally posted by Gman.45


You're kidding right? What department are you with btw now, I remember you were doing AC work before, and were in the hiring process of one of the departments in Alberta, I just never kept up with which you joined.

If you think that THIS incident is what makes the RCMP look bad, you need a lesson on current events. This is a SEAT BELT ticket for gods sake. RCMP officers like Calgary's Customs and Rxcise division's Kevin Lochart in Alberta, who was fired for being involved with organized crime and a very prominent Edmonton lawyer who represents organized crime, or RCMP officer Rob Sidhu, who was fired and is in prison for more of the same with BC drug dealers. Other RCMP officers who are about to be front page news for giving targeting information and locations to "friends" of theirs in organize crime so they could and did eliminate their competitors in the BC drug trade...

Now THOSE guys make the RCMP and other cops look bad, not some guy who decided to write up somebody who didn't have the proper permits to exclude him from getting a citation. I realize discretion is a part of the job, however in a traffic blitz situation where the officer in question is surrounded by other officers, it becomes harder to exercise it. I'll bet you anything that if it was just a regular stop that no seat belt ticket would have been issued by the same officer. In fact, the guy even stated he's been yanked over many times for other tickets, but always skated on the seat belt thing, which proves the point.

All this noise over a seat belt ticket, when you've got cops doing things 1000x worse out there....kind of ridiculous.

edit -

I understand what you're saying, however there are people, including other cops, that will argue that precise thing, considering people often let off their brake pressure without noticing it, and by having their head in their lap instead of out the window but themselves and others in jeopardy in just such situations. That law is made for the lowest common denominator, not switched on enthusiast drivers, who even still can make that same mistake. One of the officers I used to shoot Police Pistol Combat with before I did my first tour in Afghanistan said that texting/smartphones increased the number of bumper bender accidents in drive through lanes by a factor of at least 10 in his opinion, sort of the same situation of sitting in a line where you say that you would use discretion when writing a ticket, like waiting for a train. Am I correct in picking up what you're putting down?

I definitely pick up what you're putting down. And I agree with you about everything you've said about the RCMP. This just is another nail in it.

I'm a PO at a college in Edmonton. I applied for CPS a couple weeks ago. Fingers crossed.

Originally posted by GTS4tw


You're a cop?

Nope. I'm a provincial Peace Officer. I think I even mentioned that earlier on.

[Gman.45]

Good luck with the application. Keep your place tidy, a good friend of mine who is in firearms with CPS now had them show up at his house to snoop around when he was in the application process. He used to be horrible with computers, and was downloading porn from this site where it displayed upside down, and instead of fixing it like a normal person would he just flipped his TV upside down so he could watch it right side up. When asked WTF is with the upside down TV, he turned beet red and had to explain it....did I mention that one of the officers stopping by was a woman? LOL!

[mucat]

I hope he doesn't have to sign the form. Common sense is a lost art nowadays.