… especially on the highway. I’ve had lit cigarette butts hit my car from the car in front of me. One time it lodged in my front grill and I was smelling smoke for miles. Another time it came in my window and landed inside my car. And I’ve sen plenty of grass fires on the sides of highways over the year. And look around the ground near any major intersection with stop lights. The world is their ashtray. And then they whine about smokers’ rights. Ha!
Yah, a little common courtesy please.
Although a non-smoker , I’m not an ANTI-smoker…until crap like this comes up.
D’ya wanna smoke ? go right ahead , but not in my face !
My wife in her smoking days would roll down the truck window a bit.
I’d play in the smokey bars but never smoked myself.
But dude, think a second…
If you’d like us to give you the space ???
I agree with you 100%.
On occasion, I have posed the following question to my passengers:
When is littering NOT a case of littering?
Answer–Apparently, when a smoker throws cigarette butts out of his car.
(At least in his nicotine-addled mind, it is not littering, I guess.)
If I was to throw a small piece of paper from my car while parked at a stop light, this would constitute littering and I would be liable for a summons/fine. However, smokers seem to evade penalties for littering with cigarette butts–in addition to potentially sparking brush fires. Why do they seem to be exempt from the anti-littering laws that restrict and penalize the non-smoking majority of drivers?
I agree with you too. In California, if a cop spots someone tossing a “flaming object” out their window, whether their car is moving or not, whether it’s on the drivers side or passenger, they’re busted. The fines I hear go anywhere from $500 on up. And after the first offense, it’s REALLY up.
Speaking of smoking, I wonder how may accidents, smoking while driving cause. Kinda like Tom and Ray talking about cell phones being akin to drunk driving which I totally agree with also.
Mark.
I can’t even count how many cops I’ve seen throwing cigarette butts out the window.
The same cops who ticketed a woman here a few years back for throwing out 1 (yes, one as in singular) empty sunflower seed husk.
Guess they taught that miscreant a lesson.
Actually a friend of mine did butt littering (unknowingly) driving by the police chief at police station in a small town. She got pulled over and handed a $250 fine. He had the evidence too.
@Jet:
There’s probably been MANY accidents from people who get the cherry to fall off their cigarette and down into their lap while they’re driving. While I’m against distracted driving, I can see how a hot object near one’s groin region would take precedence over the car.
I live in Southern Nevada you can’t go into a casino without gagging on the stench these idiots put out. If they want cancer and ruined lungs that’s their business but why should any one else have to get sick or even uncomfortable because they don’t care about their health? I mean what if I stopped taking a shower for a month? They would kick me out of the place but I have to smell this crap.
Look down at ANY stop-light at the end of a off-ramp on a highway…You’ll see HUNDREDS of cigarette butts…
MOST people I’ve observed who smoke are extremely inconsiderate and don’t care at all what happens to their cigarette butts. I’ve known people who REFUSE to use their ashtray because then their cigarette butts will make a mess of their car…WELL IT’S YOUR CIGARETTE BUTTS…WHY SHOULD THE REST OF US HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT.
On more then one occasion I’ve had some idiot flick their cigarette butt out the window and the LITE butt landed IN my truck or car…One time even making a burn mark on our leather seats.
I own a couple of investment properties that I rent out…and I REFUSE to rent to smokers…In fact I even have them sign an agreement that NO-ONE will ever smoke in the apartment (that includes guests). And I’ve even had to evict a tenant for violating it.
Smoke all you want…just not around me.
Don’t gamble then.
That’s just as bad of a disease.
BC.
I only go there for the Buffet! 
(But then again, that’s probably another disease.)
I’m sharing this message from a friend to highlight another tragic outcome of tossing lit materials from vehicles:
My best friend was coming to my ranch yesterday. We are both llama packers and have enjoyed being together with our llamas for many years.
We were going to hike around my place on Friday and then go to the beach for a long all day hike Saturday.
About 2:00 P.M. I got a call from the fire department about 70 miles south of where I live. The Firefighter Captain gave the phone to my friend. He was incredibly distraught. He stated that he was driving on the freeway with his three llamas in the trailer when another car motioned for him to pull over. As he pulled over, he saw that his trailer was on fire. When he ran back to the trailer all three of his llamas were on fire. I won?t go into the terrible details, but fortunately he had his pistol with him and he was able to immediately put all three llamas down. This is a picture he will have for the rest of his life.
The fire was actually the shredded paper he used for bedding in his trailer. There was no damage to the trailer itself, just the llamas and the paper. I use straw as a bedding and I could have the same thing happen if some sort of ignition source found its way into the straw. By the way, there was no source of ignition from the trailer. The cause was a lit cigarette tossed from a passing vehicle.
My friend drove up to my place with the burned dead llamas. With the help of my neighbor, who is a backhoe operator, we were able to bury the llamas in the pasture that they were going to be in for their stay.
Why am I sharing such a tragedy? As I said, it could happen in your or my trailer if you use any type of flammable bedding. I have decided to purchase a remote back up camera and monitor to be placed inside my trailer and truck so that I can monitor the activity and condition of my llamas while I am on the road. I will also not put as much straw in the trailer as I have in the past.
Hopefully we can all learn from this great loss and prevent it from happening again.