Is it littering?

[snoone]

I don't know about the rest of the country but here in the NY metropolitan area I believe that most people that smoke think that cigarette butts thrown out of the windows of their cars is not littering. I can't tell you how many times in the last week I've been on the road and they know I'm there and they still throw em out the window. Is this a problem where you ride? Just venting!

I apologize in advance to responsible smokers.

[Gizmo]

I have noted this behavior in every region I have lived, it seems that many smokers do not understand what that little drawer in the center of the dash is for. Either that or they do not want to contaminate their car interiors with that filth, instead prefer to share it with the rest of us.

[Braddog]

I'm guessing this is a problem everywhere. Cars have come equipped with ashtrays, since, what, like the 1920's? Yet so many people won't use them.

Funny story. Riding home from work last week in downtown Minneapolis. Stopped at a stoplight, when a car rolls down the window and tosses out a butt. There was a Highway Patrol officer right behind the lady that did this. He turned on his PA and said, "Pick up your cigarette butt! That is littering, and is against the law!" You should've seen the look on the lady's face!

It is littering, and is a pet peeve of mine.

[cruisin]

I don't know about the rest of the country but here in the NY metropolitan area I believe that most people that smoke think that cigarette butts thrown out of the windows of their cars is not littering. I can't tell you how many times in the last week I've been on the road and they know I'm there and they still throw em out the window. Is this a problem where you ride? Just venting!

I apologize in advance to responsible smokers.

That's one of my pet peeves and yes it is littering. Not only littering, but in many cases here in the great plains of northern Texas, it becomes arson all to often. Smokers have got to be the most self centered and rudest people on the face of the planet. They believe it is: OK to litter, OK to endanger other's health, OK to start fires, OK to disgust other people, OK to aggravate other peoples' allergies. . .etc. all because they are too weak to get through life without that fix of nicotine several times a day.

OK done venting now; BTW I really don't care who is offended by my rant, every smoker I personally know has been guilty of at least one of the above and some of them are otherwise fairly decent people, until it comes to their vice. grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[einnar]

....There was a Highway Patrol officer right behind the lady that did this. He turned on his PA and said, "Pick up your cigarette butt! That is littering, and is against the law!".....

I actually wrote, and had upheld, a couple of tickets for this when I was a cop. One, I was in a semimarked car (logos on the doors, plain color car, no lightbar - just lights in the grill, back window deck, etc.) and said something like that over the PA too. Apparently, the person decided I wasn't a cop, and pulled the ashtray out of the dash... they made a nice slow production of dumping it on the ground out the window. I saw it coming, and hit the lights as they were doing it, thus turning the in-car camera on. (Not all of them, just enough to turn the camera on, which they missed, being too busy dumping the ashes, butts, etc.).

Imagine their surprise when the rest of the lights came on, when a real cop walked up to their car, wrote them a ticket, made them clean up their mess, actually showed up in court, and the judge fined them....

As they say in the commercials.... priceless. :)

[cruisin]

I actually wrote, and had upheld, a couple of tickets for this when I was a cop. One, I was in a semimarked car (logos on the doors, plain color car, no lightbar - just lights in the grill, back window deck, etc.) and said something like that over the PA too. Apparently, the person decided I wasn't a cop, and pulled the ashtray out of the dash... they made a nice slow production of dumping it on the ground out the window. I saw it coming, and hit the lights as they were doing it, thus turning the in-car camera on. (Not all of them, just enough to turn the camera on, which they missed, being too busy dumping the ashes, butts, etc.).

Imagine their surprise when the rest of the lights came on, when a real cop walked up to their car, wrote them a ticket, made them clean up their mess, actually showed up in court, and the judge fined them....

As they say in the commercials.... priceless. :)

:clap :thumb :clap :thumb to you. Every LEO across the country should do that, then maybe they would start to get the idea.

[snoone]

The problem is, that it's a sneaky crime, not easily detectible.

[username]

i think it is unconscionable to expect smokers to keep those nasty cigarette butts in their cars. that is a total violation of their rights. the minute they are done smoking, and putting that thing to their lips, it becomes incredibly disgusting, and must be thrown as far away as possible.

;)

i expect some smokers to weigh in on whether they litter and how they feel about it. seriously.

[RT_guy]

I find it amazing how far behind a smoker you can be and still smell their cigarette at highway speeds!

[riderR1150GSAdv]

If you think it is bad on the roads, have a look at the beaches where hundreds of cigarettebutts wash up. The wildlife doesn't like it either. At the Marathon Seaturtle hospital a dead seaturtle was brought in. They decided on an autopsy so they could find out why it had died. The result was that the animal had died of starvation as the 400 + cigarettebutts in its stomach provided little nutrition. :cry

[MCMXCIVRS]

Sometimes there is justice in other forms. Our pumper crew attended a car fire a few years back. It seems the driver had flipped a butt out the window, but didn't realise that the wind blew it into his backseat. The interior of his car was destroyed. :clap :clap

[bigfoot105]

As a non-smoker, I don't mind if a smoker has a smoke as long as they don't exhale. :D

[bigfoot105]

And on the littering note.......With snow on the ground for up to 7-8 months a year here, when it finally does melt the accumulation of butts is enough to make you want to throw up :sick ......as a motorcyclist, you are more aware of the volume of them at stoplights and intersections as you can see them right under your feet. In a cager, its out of sight out of mind.


Sorry Mom, but, that just the way I feel.........

[Emoto]

Years ago, I used to smoke. I recall throwing butts out the window and not thinking about it as litter one way or the other. It never entered my mind. Seriously.

Since I no longer smoke, I have noticed it just like everyone else who has poted about it. I'd like to see smokers stop littering. I have no idea what percentage was like me, but some smokers may simply not be aware of what they're really doing as they go through the steps of their addiction...

[The_Veg]

I once had a boss who was NOT amused when he confronted me about the excessive breaks I took and explained that I was merely excercising parity with the smokers, who seemed to spend half the day away from their places of duty with apparent impunity. This issue has rankled me in every workplace. I currently work closely with a colleague who cannot pass an exit sign without feeling an overwhelming urge to 'go to Marlboro country,' as he puts it, and I can definitely see the dent it makes in our productivity. He giggles heartily when I call him a 'f**king addict.'

Years earlier I was in the army. At least once a week we had to do this thing called 'policing the grounds' where we all lined up shoulder-to-shoulder and walked from one end of the motor pool or barracks-yard or wherever to the other end, and picked up any litter or other detritus that was in our path. I almost always finished with a great big double-handful of butts. I suggested to the platoon sergeant that we take all all the smokers out to the parade field and shoot them. But then he reminded me that only the non-smokers would be left to clean up THAT mess. Hmmmm.

And if there's one thing that is a definite deal-breaker in my dating life, smoking is it. Y'know that old saying about kissing an ashtray? Even a good toothbrushing followed by mouthwash doesn't even get Ms. Butts' mouth fresh enough for it to be an appealing experience.

[Hodag]

I put my butts in a beer can that I just finished, then throw the can out the window

[Burnszilla]

California Law:

The only items sanctioned in the California Vehicle Code as those which can be legally discharged from a vehicle is clear water and feathers from live birds.

[MarkF]

California Law:

The only items sanctioned in the California Vehicle Code as those which can be legally discharged from a vehicle is clear water and feathers from live birds.

What if the bird dies first?

[BradfordBenn]

What really irks me at works is that we have about four "Please put cigarettes butts in the ashtray" signs in about 100 square feet, guess what is all over the ground...

[Hodag]

when are you people going to realize that smoking is the answer to our social security worries.

[boofer]

Give EVERY person on this planet TWO tags. You may legally OFF anyone for any reason and avoid prosicution provided the bodys are properly tagged.

This will also considerably cut pollution levels, save the envitonment, ozone layer, end terrorism, nuclear proliferation, global warming, cure the projected shortcommings of social security, and what have you.

That's right, I hate litterbugs and everyone else, in that order.

Hahah

[Cliffy777]

izzit littering? sho nuff is in my book. even when i smoked i went to great pains to put my butts in the trash - it ain't right to just toss em.

[GeoffMiller]

aaahhhhh, that Salem tasted so fine...oh ya............ :D think I'll have another :D

[GeoffMiller]

By the way, Boofer, it will eventually quit raining here in cheeze land and we can go riding again! Hang in there, Man, take yer meds....... :D

[boofer]

Yesterday was my first day back to work after a FIVE month winter layoff. So, I'm dealing with people again.

Yea I smoke, non filters and I always field strip them when necessary.

Now, who among you can say that you only generate two normal sized trash cans of refuse per year. (not including recyclebles)

My doctor says I should be better now, Tim

[snoone]

I wonder if the smokers who don't remember that they are littering or creating a fire hazard also forget to tell their kids not to throw refuse out of the windows while driving down the roads.

Once again this morning I'm stopped at a stop sign behind an suv in a pretty rural area and lo and behold the window comes down and out comes the butt, disregarding the fact that a bike is behind them or that anyone else might be seeing how pigish they are. Pulling along side of them and shaking your head just gets them mad because they know they've been caught or could care less. Maybe butts are biodegradable after a couple of hrs and I am the one that doesnt get it!

So every morning or day if I counted how many times this happens on the road times 365 days a yr just in my space WOW.

[kbasa]

Every time my eastern friends come to visit in the summer, I have to remind them that you can't throw lit items on the ground. They'll burn the whole damn state down.

So, while the litter part is a bad idea, the flame part is even worse.

[Gnome]

Had a Porche with top down pass me last week. Sexy trophy chick in passenger seat thumps a lit one out over the top of the car. It looked like a silkworm missile coming toward me!

In college I always ate the end of the smoke when I was finished with them. Of course that wasn't a tobacco product..... :p


Ashtrays...They aren't just for ashes anymore! :thumb

[Rich]

In college I always ate the end of the smoke when I was finished with them. Of course that wasn't a tobacco product....

What about all the bags from the chips you ate when you got the munchies?? Did you eat them too? :D

You made my laugh for the day. :thumb

[bobw]

Just my personal opinion but......a lot of smokers are just plain pigs. They throw their butts down anywhere and blow their smoke anywhere they choose without regard to others. You can pull up to any corner and see hundreds of butts. They take a VERY long time to decompose.
As for putting them in the ashtray....most people don't want the mess in their car. They don't care about the streets so that's where they throw them.
I bought a new Honda Ridgeline a month ago....it does not come with a lighter or ashtray.....what is Honda trying to tell us? Throw the butts on the ground?

Or...........quit smoking!!!!!!!!! ????