Any driver who has exited an interstate ramp and sat long enough at the red light to look around has noticed the trash on the ground which had to be thrown from another vehicle’s driver while stopped at the same light. Fast food wrappers, Styrofoam cups, vehicle parts and the ever present pile of cigarette butts. Litter, plain and simple trash thrown from a vehicle by inconsiderate self-centered humans.
I wonder how the guy throwing his cigarette butt out the window would feel if someone threw them on his bedroom floor. A nasty old hamburger wrapper would look good on the kitchen table. How about if after adding anti-freeze to a broken radiator, I put the empty jug on his driveway?
When I was a kid back in 1960’s I remember all the gas stations gave out plastic bags to hang on the radio knob. There was a big anti-litter campaign and at least my family took it seriously. I remember the first High School Prom I went to and cleaned the family car. The ash tray was full of nasty cigarette butts. But at least my parents didn’t throw them on the road.
I guess you are finding out about another of my pet peeves that society considers to only be a nuisance. It is only a minor misdemeanor, on the first offense anyway. But I hate the arrogance of a “Respectable” citizen throwing a nasty cigarette butt out the window. They don’t magically evaporate people.
So if you see yourself in this article, sorry to hurt your feelings. Well I’m not really sorry, but please think about what you are doing. Are your children going to see this and continue the habit? Would that make you proud? It’s the little things in life that make you a good decent person, a role model for others.
Ohio Revised Code 4511.82 Littering offenses:
(A) No operator or occupant of a motor vehicle shall, regardless of intent, throw, drop, discard, or deposit litter from any motor vehicle in operation upon any street, road, or highway, except into a litter receptacle in a manner that prevents its being carried away or deposited by the elements.
(B) No operator of a motor vehicle in operation upon any street, road, or highway shall allow litter to be thrown, dropped, discarded, or deposited from the motor vehicle, except into a litter receptacle in a manner that prevents its being carried away or deposited by the elements.
(C) Whoever violates division (A) or (B) of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(D) As used in this section, «litter» means garbage, trash, waste, rubbish, ashes, cans, bottles, wire, paper, cartons, boxes, automobile parts, furniture, glass, or anything else of an unsightly or unsanitary nature.
Effective Date: 01-01-2004
