New way to fight seatbelt ticket in 49 states

[Lucky225]

http://www.txcn.com/sharedcontent/dw....6529032d.html

DALLAS – Get caught without your seatbelt in Dallas and you could pay almost $150 in fines and court costs, just ask anyone lining up at the counters to pay tickets on the first floor of the Dallas Municipal Court.

But a little known website, buckleoff.com, can potentially get some drivers out of seat belt violations for a third of the price.

"Well, there's certainly the potential for abuse," said Chief Prosecutor Fred Williams, Dallas Municipal Court. "We want to make sure people who actually are going to get the medical defense for not wearing the seatbelt actually have a medical reason for not wearing the seatbelt."

North Texans not wearing their seatbelts are more common than many may realize. Dallas Municipal Courts processed almost 13,000 tickets for that violation last year alone. What is not know is just how many people are using a medical excuse as a defense?

Answer 18 simple health questions at buckleoff.com, pay a $49.95 fee and Dr. Robert Hattner, a licensed doctor living near Seattle, will send a note in about a week dismissing drivers from wearing their seat belt.

He said he rejects the idea that people would lie about ailments just to get his note.

"If I saw them face to face they would say the same thing,” he said. "It would be the same if I were sitting in my office and someone came in and said, 'I have terrible pain in my shoulder. Whenever anyone touches my shoulder it causes me great agony.'"

Dr. Hattner said he has more than 300 patients in Texas, which is a third of all his patients nationwide. He also revealed it is rare he turns down a request for a note. Many of his patients suffer from obesity, arthritis or pain from recent surgery, Hattner said.

"It could be very legitimate exemptions,” said Daniel Hagood, a former Dallas County prosecutor currently in private defense practice. “On the other hand, it could be a system where by systematically the government is being beaten out of its rightful enforcement of the traffic laws.”

According to state law, Hattner's online note is a legal defense. There’s nothing in the Texas Transportation Code saying that either the doctor has to be licensed in Texas or has to make a face-to-face diagnosis for it to be admissible in court.

But whether it's proof enough for skeptical prosecutors is a dilemma Dallas courts have yet to decide.

[dpatel01]

Does the doc write notes excusing a heavy foot?

[Lucky225]

Does the doc write notes excusing a heavy foot?

I'm wondering about notes for handicap signs

[dpatel01]

I'm wondering about notes for handicap signs

Just walk into the courtroom with a fake limp, gangster style!

[JDS]

Wow, I'm real excited about a way that I can be permitted to drive without a seatbelt, I'm really into the whole ejected-from-the-vehicle thing :roll:

I'm with dpatel, though, I want a medical excuse for speeding!

[Straßenkrieger]

JDS is right, buckling up is the best thing, but if you get caught going to your neighbors house a couple of blocks down, this site would be handy. It happened to me, but he let me off with a warning being that I was already at my buddies house.

[JDS]

JDS is right, buckling up is the best thing, but if you get caught going to your neighbors house a couple of blocks down, this site would be handy. It happened to me, but he let me off with a warning being that I was already at my buddies house.

I know it's probably overkill, but I have a very simple system...If I'm staying within the driveway, I keep the seatbelt off, if I'm leaving the driveway, I put the seatbelt on. I know it's kind of ludicrous putting it on to drive half a block down the street, but hey, if I've got it ingrained to the point where I don't think about it, I can't possibly forget it, right?

Besides...I've heard that the majority of accidents occur within a mile of home, maybe it's not such overkill after all?

[FlyinZX-10R]

A friend of mine was a helicopter pilot for a local hospital. He said the majority of people that are killed in motor vehicle accidents that he was called to were not wearing their sea belts. Some examples he gave were being ejected from the vehicle and slamming into other objects or cars, or being run over by other vehicles after being ejected. Also mentioned people hanging out the window while the vehicle was tumbling. Most of the time he just stayed in the chopper unless he was needed.

[Straßenkrieger]

JDS is right, buckling up is the best thing, but if you get caught going to your neighbors house a couple of blocks down, this site would be handy. It happened to me, but he let me off with a warning being that I was already at my buddies house.

I know it's probably overkill, but I have a very simple system...If I'm staying within the driveway, I keep the seatbelt off, if I'm leaving the driveway, I put the seatbelt on. I know it's kind of ludicrous putting it on to drive half a block down the street, but hey, if I've got it ingrained to the point where I don't think about it, I can't possibly forget it, right?

Besides...I've heard that the majority of accidents occur within a mile of home, maybe it's not such overkill after all?

Yeah, after a while it just becomes natural just to put it on as soon as you get in. I don't even notice it anymore.

[Maestro]

A friend of mine was a helicopter pilot for a local hospital. He said the majority of people that are killed in motor vehicle accidents that he was called to were not wearing their sea belts. Some examples he gave were being ejected from the vehicle and slamming into other objects or cars, or being run over by other vehicles after being ejected. Also mentioned people hanging out the window while the vehicle was tumbling. Most of the time he just stayed in the chopper unless he was needed.

It is called naturally selection and who are we to interfere with mother natures trying to weed out the weak links in the DNA chain.

You can not legislate stupidity out of the populations. In reality these laws are not about people dying it is about how much these stupid people cost the rest of us when they do not die and our insurance costs pay to keep them a live after they failed at killing themselves.