Here's a story to share with you all.....

I was in the right-hand side of the left turn lane waiting for the light to turn green. The driver of the car on my right was smoking and tossed his cigarette butt out the window. I saw it land right next to my foot. So I said, "Hey, you dropped something...." and bent down to pick it up. I turned towards him and without a word he hits his power window button and up went his window. So I Ieaned over and lifted his windshield wiper and gently tucked his butt under the wiper. My light had turned green by then but the drivers behind me were watching and patiently waited out this spectacle. I took off and as the cars that were behind me passed, at least half of them gave a quick honk-honk and a wave or thumbs-up! It's a nice feeling that I probably lightened up their day

There is the road biker that is about 65 years old, i see bikeing everyday on my way to work. the funny thing is hes always smoking a huge cigar i wonder what he is thinking?

It would have been funny if he'd called the cops to complain. The fine for that could be $1,000. Right now it's fire season here. I wonder how the judge would take that?

I would have laughed my a$$ off if I saw that.

Nicely done! Glad you're alive to tell the tale.

Nice job GBreeze. I love the level of interactions cyclists have with their surroundings, good or bad. From past experiences I worry about touching people's cars at all. I too, am glad you are alive to talk about it.

Rock on!

Whenever I am at a "left turn arrow light" that has an island I notice thousands of cigarette butts from smokers caught at the red light.



There is also a guy who rides the local rail to trail path of 3 miles or so. He has a thousand dollar bike that never exceeds 10 MPH. He rides to one end of the trail, smokes a couple of cigarette then rides home.

If I ever find him dead at his smoking spot, I'm taking his bike.

My husband's a car-guy so I know to be respectful of other people's car. However here in CA, especially in the Bay Area, cigarette smokers are treated like leppers so there is no compassion for them. My initial plan was to just wave the butt in his face, but once he closed his window and avoided all eye contact with me, I knew he was not the confrontational type so that's why I felt bold enough to put the cigarette butt under his wiper. Plus I think maybe deep down inside, I knew there would be quite a few witnesses who would back me up if this guy were to jump out of his car in a rage.

nice job!

i think someone tried to hit me with a cig-butt the other day, but missed.... some real f#ckin nice people out there, BE CAREFUL...

I get a kick out of the folks who hold their (cigarette) butt out the open window, and are careful to blow all the smoke out. "I don't care what's in my body, as long as my car doesn't stink".

However these are the people who ALWAYS throw their butts out the window.

That's the kind of thing that works in CA, but if you tried it in TX or TN, you'd have a large entrance wound and an even larger exit wound to show for being a good citizen. If I all of the sudden quit posting here forever, you guys'll know I tried it.

You're my hero! Great story.

That was a cool move, man. The poor guy was probably staring at the smoldering butt all the way to his destination while thinking, "If I turn on my wipers, it'll smear across my windshield and fall into the rain drain." You definitely put him in a "spot of bother."

Hilarious!
It also helps that I have an intense dislike for smoking. I won't even visit my sister in-law's apartment since they smoke inside.

I'm not impressed with either side of this story.

Hey go easy on the cig smoking idiot -- he pays more per dollar than car users pay in gas tax!

Truly impressive would have been flicking it back into his open window, undetected, just as he started moving after the light turned green....

... and burning a hole in his pants

Awesome! You dude, are my hero of the day.

If anything, he might think twice the next time he goes to flick his butt out the window. Or, mabe not, morons don't usually have that type of fore thought.

T.J.

Great story. Cig butts are a symptom of general litterbuggery. Wait til you almost get hit with a bag of McDonalds trash when you're hiking near the road. I too, would have laughed my ass off. I just wonder how far he drove before he stopped to clear his windshield.
Adam

Wipping the lock and chain to his teeth would have made a better educational experience. j/k

Good work!!

Smokers are such slobs.

That's one reason I smoke Camel Non-Filters. The whole thing's biodegradable and when I finish one I have the options of dropping it and letting burn completely up, if there's no fire danger; field stripping it into undetectable pieces or dropping it in my pocket.

Don't often smoke on the bike though. Well, it depends on which bike I'm on. On the Allez I'm often going so fast the ashes will be behind my teeth too fast to enjoy the smoke. On a slow cruise on the Townie, that's not a problem. On the other bikes, it just depends.

I had someone drive by and empty an ashtray right in front of me once. I would gladly have flicked a lit butt back into that car!

Thanks for giving car drivers another reason to think we cyclists are all sanctimonious pricks. But hey as long as you can go to work feeling smug and self-satisfied nobody else matters, right?