Wichita man with homemade seat belt found guilty again

Paul Weigand buckles up long before getting behind the wheel.  "It's the law, you have to wear a seat belt and I don't want to forget to put it on, so I just wear it all the time," Weigand said.

That's right, he regularly wears a special made seat belt that doesn't do much more than sit on his waist.  "I just don't like wearing a seat belt and I don't think I should have to." 

Police disagree.  He was pulled over recently and although he says the cops thought his seat belt was amusing, they still wrote him a ticket.  "No where in the ordinance does it say it has to be attached to the vehicle. So I'm testing the law," he said.

Weigand is taking the issue to court Thursday.  He believes the case will be dismissed because of the wording of the statue.  It reads, a person shall have a safety belt properly fastened about such person's body at all times the car is in motion.  "This is a seat belt and I'm wearing it the only way you can wear it, that's what the law requires," he said.

Weigand admits he's making light of the law, but is doing it because he has a phobia of being trapped by a seat belt in an accident.  "The idea of wearing a seat belt scares me more than the idea of not wearing it," he said.  He says buckling up should be a choice and the only person he's endangering is himself. 

He'll make an appearance in Wichita municipal court Thursday morning.  He plans to plead not guilty and the issue will likely be set for trial.  Weigand says he hopes the judge has a good sense of humor but also understands where he's coming from.  He says if he loses the court case, the wording of the law needs to be rewritten.  He also says he'll find out how many tickets he can get before violating the primary seat belt law becomes a felony.

Count on Eyewitness News to let you know what happens.