srddude

came up to a motorist today
just as he flicked his butt out the window

we were both stopped for traffic,

just after he flicked the smoke he noticed I was beside him

I was able to give him a quick education on why NOT to toss a lit cigarette out the window

and made him pick up the butt and put it back in his car
( i was still in uniform)

there was no grass hazard today but this still bugs me when I see it

sbhikes

I've observed people throwing lit cigarettes out the window on hot summer nights when there are sundowner winds in Southern California on mountain roads surrounded by chaparral, which is a particularly flammable habitat. I've seen the sparks fly several feet. When I see that it makes me so mad I can't even tell you how mad it makes me. Smokers are inconsiderate idiots.

Rowan

This is true. I used to be one. It almost killed me, literally. Then I took up cycling. Am I saved?

srddude

my best story about this was last year

As I was following a motorist in my work truck

he flicked his smoke out the window, when I ran his plates I got his home number
phoned his house and his wife gave me his cell phone number

I then gave him a call, to say the least he was freaked

Shimpie

Wow, how did you run his plates?

srddude

Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC)
we can access them via our radio control center

blwyn

There have been a couple times in slow traffic when I've picked up the butt and flicked it right back into the vehicle it came from. I imagine they just flick it right back out again, but it still sends a message.

I feel that most people flick the butts because their vehicles don't have a usable ash tray anymore. In both of our cars, the ash trays are molded into the dash or floor, there is no way to remove them for emptying. For people without a shop vac, the trays are useless.

supcom

No sense making excuses for the butt suckers. People have always tossed their butts out their cars. People chuck their McTrash too, even though they get nice trash bags with their unHappy Meals.

And now that nobody drinks tap water, I see no end of plastic water bottles on the side of the road. A sad aspect of cycling is you go slow enough to see all the carp that exits vehicles.

PWRDbyTRD

Such horse Shiet. I don't think you should be able to do such things for your own reasoning.

srddude

actually it is....
as a peace officer, a forest ranger , and a fire fighter
when some one tosses out a lit cigarette out of there car they are breaking the law

I've put out a lot of fires that burnt up people homes and property
which were caused by a tossed cigar / cigarette

like I've said before it bugs me

rivertrail

If I had a pet peeve . . . . people tossing their butts out their cages would be it!

Keep your butt off the street!

Don't be a buttchucker!

Saudade

Best.story.ever! Oh, how I wish I was in a position to make smokers pick up their butts! Not only would I make them pick it up but I would force them to eat their butts too. This is a serious pet peeve of mine. I mentioned to a law enforcement relative that I think butt-throwers should be fined for their disgusting behaviour, and he just rolled his eyes at me, (cuz I guess he has more important stuff to do apparently).

Sigh. I will cherish your post and remember it fondly.

Evil_Gilligan

You assume that the ranger "abused" his power by doing what he did. On the contrary, what the motorist did was dangerous, illegal, and offensive to boot. If he'd have done it in front of an American park ranger he'd be paying a hefty fine.
As a matter of fact, here are the laws of the national park service:
(from https://www.regulations.gov/topical_guide.cfm)

§ 261.5 Fire.
The following are prohibited:
(a) Carelessly or negligently throwing or placing any ignited
substance or other substance that may cause a fire.
§ 261.11 Sanitation.
The following are prohibited:
(e) Dumping of any refuse, debris, trash or litter ...
§ 261.1b Penalty.
Any violation of the prohibitions of this part (261) shall be punished by
a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment for not more than six months
or both pursuant to title 16 U.S.C., section 551, unless otherwise provided.

AS I read it a flicked cigarette on park lands can turn into a $1000 fine ...

The inconsiderate smoker should consider it a gift that the only thing the ranger did was call his cell. In the states, forest rangers have the same authority as State Police ... trust me, those guys can write every kind of ticket you can imagine AND are a hell of a lot less likely to cut you a break. I grew up outside Valley Forge Nat'l park in Pennsylvania and let me tell you those rangers are some hard-core sticklers for the law.

INP

The motorist is lucky he got away with only the ranger giving a call.....in BC the last couple of years, with the high forest fire hazard, the RCMP requested that anyone who views a motorist throw a cigarette out of the vehicle

1.) record the vehicle plates
2.) record the side of the vehicle the cigarette was thrown out of
3.) record pertinent details (time, location, etc)
4.) stop and extinguish the cigarette.

If you then phoned the police, they would charge the individual.

I think it's good people are taking it seriously. As someone who grew up in a high forest-hazard area, and watched one burn close to the ranch/woodlot I worked on one summer, I do not appreciate a careless moment that results in danger to the lives of others - homeowners, livestock, fire-fighters, etc. If someone chooses to smoke, that's their business: but as soon as they take an action that threatens the safety of others, they should pay the consequences. It's really no different than drinking and driving. Obviously personal harm is not the intent, but one still needs to think about the effect their actions have before they pull a mindless stunt.

jeff williams

Awesome! That is priceless.
Thanks for keeping us in the green.

Smokey the Bear would be a good CB handle for you.

Raiyn

We could use some like him down here

KrisPistofferson

Not all smokers are homicidal sodomites. They deserve the same compassion as any other addict. To say that ALL smokers flick their butts out the window because you've witnessed it before is faulty logic. They don't need to be any more demonized than they've already been.

Vision-

My compassion ends when they insist on sharing their addiction with other people.

My pet peeve is drivers who smoke when they have kids in their car. I often imagine the look on their faces if I rolled up at a stop light and took that smoke and shoved it up their nose while it was still lit (ahhh, the full flavoured aroma....).

KrisPistofferson

I don't disagree one bit.

nick burns

What I don't get is how often I'm stopped at a light and look down and see a pile of cig butts dumped on the road. Seen it in parking lots too. Obviously the people are using their car's ashtray. But to then dump on the road or in a parking lot?! Is it that hard to wait till you find a trashcan?
Sometimes the piles in the parking lots are actually only a few feet away from a trashcan too. People are so eff'n lazy sometimes.

rivertrail

It's a littering issue (possibly a littering burning objects issue) . . . . not a smoking issue. I get peeved the same whether it's a butt, a big wad of purple bubble gum, or a Starbucks cup. I have noticed though . . . . this being my pet peeve and all . . . that in excess of %90 (I think I'm being generous here) of the people that I see finish smoking a cigarette in their car toss the butt out the window. (I know, these are very unstructured field studies.) Granted, not all smokers litter.

DogBoy

I've seen many things exiting vehicles, but I've yet to see fish flying out of windows.

caloso

Dang it! DogBoy beat me to it!


Anyway, I have always been against capital punishment, but I would make an exception for the asshats that flick lit butts out windows. I cannot tell you how angry it makes me, especially in late summer when all of California is dry and brown.

chicharron

my pet peeve is beer drinkers who toss glass beer bottles out on the street. Broken glass is not healthy for bicyclist, pedestrians, or other mototist. Besides, I hate litter.

ofofhy

I did step on a dead fish in the street last week.