Armless man fights ticket for failing to buckle seat belt

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, May 2 (UPI) -- An armless man in western Canada says he will do whatever it takes to fight a ticket for failing to wear a seatbelt.

Steve Simonar, 55, of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, who lost his arms when he was electrocuted almost 30 years ago, has a custom truck that allows him to drive, QMI News Agency reported. But he is unable to buckle up, and last week he was issued a $175 ticket.

"I'll go to the Supreme Court, I'll go to jail over this. I'm not ever gonna pay this ticket," he told the news agency Wednesday.

Simonar said he presented Saskatoon police with a doctor's note the day after he got the ticket. He described the officer who cited him as "arrogant and ignorant" and said his behavior was the same after he saw the note: "He said, 'I treat everybody the same, and you people expect things different.'"

Simonar said he only learned after he got the ticket that he needs an exemption from Saskatchewan Government Insurance.

Alyson Edwards, a police spokeswoman, said officers have discretion not to issue tickets, but once they have done so the matter is in the hands of traffic court.