Illegal to chuck fag butts out the window ?.....
Illegal to chuck fag butts out the window ?.....
Author
Discussion

chevy-stu

Original Poster:

5,392 posts

258 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
quotequote all
Do any of you fine knowledgable people out there know if it is illegal and more importantly, has anyone been prosecuted for throwing fag butts out the car window.
Have heard from few different sources recently that there is a bit of a clampdown on this. ?????

turbobloke

117,293 posts

290 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
quotequote all
Apparently some government harridan has suggested just such a clampdown, with an £80 fixed penalty for even minor littering transgressions, iirc it was one of the environment biddies.

oldie

187 posts

257 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
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Don't know about legality , but makes sense to look behind/around you for bikers (fag end getting in between helmet and neck) and cars with top down.---possibly preaching to converted .

turbobloke

117,293 posts

290 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
quotequote all
oldie said:
Don't know about legality , but makes sense to look behind/around you for bikers (fag end getting in between helmet and neck) and cars with top down.---possibly preaching to converted .
Hope so, certainly here (non smoker). Can't help but think that it;s just another nice little money earner under the usual excuses, especially as one of the options suggested is for community support officers to issue these fixed penalty tickets if you put your bin out on the wrong day. Gotta hand it to em for this genius prioritising. Jeez this sure is one sick country these days.

F.M

5,816 posts

250 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
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Where are your papers...!! Schnell!!

ATG

23,811 posts

302 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
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I think Parliament should legislate that it is OK to lob fully extinguished matches and biodegradable fag packets (so long as they are unobtrusively coloured so as to blend into the background (defintion of "unobtrusive" and "biodegradable" spread over 45 pages in Appendix F)) onto the verge so long as they land at least 1.3 metres from the curb. Non-biodegradable or garishly coloured fag packets (see Appendix F) and fag butts must not be thrown from car windows unless they land in appropriately certified receptacles (see Appendix G for list of certified receptacles paying attention to fire retardent construction requirements specified in Appendix G, paragraphs 7 through 94). Common sense and consideration and existing littering laws are clearly inadequate and new primary legislation is clearly required to demonstratre that something is being done. For Heaven's sake, will someone please think of the children?

chevy-stu

Original Poster:

5,392 posts

258 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
quotequote all
I don't smoke smoke either but my missus does, and brought it up in conversation earlier today. Seems ridiculous try and fine people for that. What about pedestrians that drop fag butts ? Is it gonna go the same way that driving whilst on the phone did, (which basically is an almost un-enforcable law, as it's so prevalent)... Mrs Chevy-Stu says good point about looking for biker and convertables, she never thought of that....
(she apologises for any bikers she might have thrown fags on in the last 12 years..)

>> Edited by chevy-stu on Wednesday 5th April 19:51

petros

2,441 posts

259 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
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Would have thought that common sense and pride would dictate that you do not drop litter, either when on foot or driving.And fag ends surely qualify as litter ?

deeen

6,413 posts

275 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
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My windows don't work, so my passengers have to open the door to drop their fag butts out. I only ask they warn me first... hoping this isn't readable in the USA.

dilbert

7,741 posts

261 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
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It's just a resurgence of the Stasi, don't worry about it!

john57

1,869 posts

258 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
quotequote all
IIRC someone was done for this a year or two ago - it was reported in the press at the time ..... a driver flicked a fag out of his window straight onto a motorcyclist travelling behind.

As a motorcyclist I would rather people didn't chuck fag butts out of the window - I have had a few similar experiences over the last few years of riding bikes .... to me it is just another example of how little many drivers look in their mirrors - either that or they hate motorcyclists

vonhosen

40,597 posts

247 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
quotequote all
petros said:
Would have thought that common sense and pride would dictate that you do not drop litter, either when on foot or driving.And fag ends surely qualify as litter ?


I agree.

turbobloke

117,293 posts

290 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
quotequote all
vonhosen said:
petros said:
Would have thought that common sense and pride would dictate that you do not drop litter, either when on foot or driving.And fag ends surely qualify as litter ?


I agree.
So do most of us but eighty squid is a bit steep, and bins out on the wrong day will cost you eighty as well - good news or bad? Is there pride in putting bins out on the right day? I can see many pensioners getting hit by that one, round here in chelta geriatrica there are zones where nobody knows for sure what day it is.

vonhosen

40,597 posts

247 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
quotequote all
mungo said:
Chucking fag buts out of the window is littering which is an offence.

Hate seeing people do it.

Yes you could get reported for littering if seen doing it by a police officer.

Personally I wouldn't stick someone on for it as I have far too many other more important crimes to investigate / jobs to respond to and a very small amount of time available to me compared to my work load.


I'd think it was always useful to keep known burglars (for instance) in court for the day rather than out burgling though

turbobloke

117,293 posts

290 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
quotequote all
Any sane sensible person hates litter and the louts that just throw their rubbish away wherever tbey are. But these people also hate officialdom in love with its own reflection, and police officers so hard pressed they won't attend a shopkeeper losing less than £75 in theft, or property damage, if they were also quite happy to report for a biodegradable fag butt, so it's good to see a bit of common being exercised there mungo.

IIRC Street once told a tale of someone stopped for another matter throwing some litter, fag packet maybe, down near his feet - asking for trouble.

>> Edited by turbobloke on Wednesday 5th April 21:11

vonhosen

40,597 posts

247 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
quotequote all
turbobloke said:
Any sane sensible person hates litter and the louts that just throw their rubbish away wherever tbey are. But these people also hate officialdom in love with its own reflection, and police officers so hard pressed they won't attend a shopkeeper losing less than £75 in theft, or property damage, if they were also quite happy to report for a biodegradable fag butt, so it's good to see a bit of common being exercised there mungo. IIRC Street once told a tale of someone stopped for another matter throwing some litter, fag packet maybe, down near his feet - asking for trouble.


But that's where the discretion comes in.
Honest Joe who unthinkingly throws litter to the floor "I'm sure you didn't mean to do that sir, perhaps you could pick it up & place it in the bin please." Lesson learnt.

Toe rag thief with no respect for the law & the above approach would be a waste of breath instead gets "You are being reported for the offence of littering."

turbobloke

117,293 posts

290 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
quotequote all
vonhosen said:
turbobloke said:
Any sane sensible person hates litter and the louts that just throw their rubbish away wherever tbey are. But these people also hate officialdom in love with its own reflection, and police officers so hard pressed they won't attend a shopkeeper losing less than £75 in theft, or property damage, if they were also quite happy to report for a biodegradable fag butt, so it's good to see a bit of common being exercised there mungo. IIRC Street once told a tale of someone stopped for another matter throwing some litter, fag packet maybe, down near his feet - asking for trouble.
But that's where the discretion comes in.
Honest Joe who unthinkingly throws litter to the floor "I'm sure you didn't mean to do that sir, perhaps you could pick it up & place it in the bin please." Lesson learnt.

Toe rag thief with no respect for the law & the above approach would be a waste of breath instead gets "You are being reported for the offence of littering."
Agreed, using discretion like that is at the very heart of good policing, from the consumer perspective.

chevy-stu

Original Poster:

5,392 posts

258 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
quotequote all
I'm not condoning littering, in fact nothing pi**es me off more than some idiot dropping his finished polystyrene mac D box/cans/crisp packet etc.. out the window. Cigarettes I presumed were biodegradabl. I would prefer people used ashtrays in cars, but as a non-smoker in a car with a smoker it's unbearable if they used the ashtray.
A degree of common sense as to what is thoughtless preventable littering should be used.

vonhosen

40,597 posts

247 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
quotequote all
mungo said:
vonhosen said:
mungo said:
Chucking fag buts out of the window is littering which is an offence.

Hate seeing people do it.

Yes you could get reported for littering if seen doing it by a police officer.

Personally I wouldn't stick someone on for it as I have far too many other more important crimes to investigate / jobs to respond to and a very small amount of time available to me compared to my work load.


I'd think it was always useful to keep known burglars (for instance) in court for the day rather than out burgling though


I was going to add "However... if I see a known nominal drop a fag I'll do them for it just to cause maximum disruption to their activities and add another to the long of offences to their name" but I decided to delete the line just in case someone read it the wrong way and it looked like I was being prejudice - Far from it though... It's simply using powers to target the right people - The known criminals.


That's not prejudice, it's case disposal based on the most appropriate action for the individual needs of the customer

TripleS

4,294 posts

272 months

Wednesday 5th April 2006
quotequote all
mungo said:
Now you sound like a salesman


He's not selling the idea of overly heavy handed speed limit enforcement around here though. There appears to be a bit of sales resistance.

Best wishes all,
Dave.