Cigarettes thrown from cars

ChrisLS

...right, I'm gonna have a moan (which I don't often do) but twice recently, passing drivers have thrown lighted cigarette butts out their windows as they have passed me. I think this may be a case of once they have passed you, you are off the radar, and cease to exsist in their world...or they want to burn me! :?

AidanR

I used to work in a (motorcycle) courier office - more than once the guys had cigarette butts thrown into their laps, and the usual response was to throw it back in through the window from whence it came, much to the surprise of the driver.

Of course on a bicycle this only really works when you're filtering...

DavidTQ

Had this happen to me this morning... I chose not to react, although thoughts of shouting or spitting through the open window, or vehicle damage did go through my mind...

dirk_van_gently

This happened to me once years ago, and I did exactly what AidanR suggested, I threw it back through the window (I was on a moto, and filtering in traffic). Caused quite a commotion in the car, as obviously the occupents did not want the nice upholstery or carpet burnt.

BentMikey

I've thought about this issue a few times, and I think it's probably best left alone. A bit of dropped litter doesn't matter that much, and you could get done for assault by chucking it back at them.

For me, it's not like RLJing or driving whilst on the phone, where there's a risk of the perpetrators causing other people real injury or death.

Anonymous

Where I live, it can cause a roadside fire. I live close to I-75 in the state of Georgia, and the hillside behind my house (neighborhood) caught fire and had to be tended to by the Fire dept. It, in actuality, could have removed the row of houses on my street.

They determined that it was from a smoldering piece of trash which had been ignited with a cigarette butt. A very real threat. I don't understand what makes one think throwing burning material from a moving vehicle is inconsequential or 'OK.'

As Mikey says, there's no big threat to the bicyclist, but it is in fact, extremely rude.
In the US, it's against the law to toss anything from a moving vehicle. I guess it turns to decoration if the vehicle is stationary. Go figure. :?:

discurio

pick it up and sizzle their neck with it through the open window :twisted:

redvee

I've had the windscreen washerjets squirted at me whilst waiting to join a road, Oh how I laughed. :x

Anonymous

discurio wrote:

pick it up and sizzle their neck with it through the open window :twisted:

Of course, they should be dragged out of the car first, right??

WyS

bikers46 wrote:

Where I live, it can cause a roadside fire. I live close to I-75 in the state of Georgia, and the hillside behind my house (neighborhood) caught fire and had to be tended to by the Fire dept. It, in actuality, could have removed the row of houses on my street.

my gf is greek, and they get mad fires all the time. the fire ppl did a study to see if cigarettes ignite brush/dead wood etc and they found not apparently.

The biggest major cause is glass etc acting as a magenfying glass.

Anonymous

Considering my area of the states is pretty much the driest of tthem all, they do start fires. Had someone in our neighborhood not called the fire dept. we would have lost our hose. It was a dry overcast day.
I've seen butts start fires in bark beds in gardens in a shopping mall in the University district in Seattle. I used to landscape there and would find huge spots of charcoal in the beds. It does happen.

BentMikey

I would have thought lightning strikes would be the biggest cause. Certainly I remember flying over the bushveld at night, and seeing numerous circular fires during a storm, which were almost certainly caused by lightning strikes.

Anonymous

Very rare here, although we get lightning during dry weather. Where I moved from, lightning never strikes unless it's raining.
I would think that would be a more pevalent source as well, but it isn't.
Go figure.

BentMikey

Depends on the country and circumstances I think. This was Zimbabwe, which sadly has or used to have the highest death rate from lightning in the world. Don't forget the raining bit is only a small part of a storm, and lightning can travel a long way, 20km or more.

nwallace

I've yet to see Forest kicking up a fuss about litter nazis fining smokers for littering constantly. Bout bloody time I did, fed up seeing smokers dumping butts on the deck right next to a bin.

miffed

id want to throw it back, but then its not happened to me and in reality id probably wouldnt do anything