Tossing Trash or Cigarettes From Cars Can Be Costly

Dear Street Smart:

Does anyone ever get caught and cited for throwing trash and especially burning cigarettes out of a moving car? I see more people do this each year, and it infuriates me! Can I phone the California Highway Patrol and agree to testify against them? Should I take down a license plate? Perhaps enforcement of the $1,000 fine would raise some cash for the state treasury.

Bob Bath Mission Viejo Rest assured, the CHP does ticket people who toss their cigarettes, paper napkins, soda cans and other trash onto the highways. Last year, CHP officers in Orange County issued more than 600 citations to litterbugs.

The state vehicle code makes it illegal to throw most anything out of your car. Even chewing gum could get you in trouble, if a judge were to decide it was trash or “noisome, nauseous, or offensive matter,” according to the code.

Tickets are written for both litter and burning objects, which are usually cigarettes, CHP spokesman Sam Haynes said. The CHP issues far more tickets for burning objects than for litter, but Haynes didn’t know why. Perhaps officers are more eagle-eyed when it comes to fire hazards.

If caught, litterers face a sore pocketbook. The fine can be up to $1,000, as you note. That doesn’t include court and county fees, which can easily double the price. Also, if a thrown cigarette starts a fire, there could be damages to pay.

The public can help combat litterbugs to a degree. Witnesses may phone or write their local CHP office about incidents. They should note the time, place, type of car and the car’s license plate number.

In response, the CHP will mail out a standard letter to the car’s registered owner, saying that someone was seen littering. “It’s kind of a nice letter but says they messed up in a bad way,” said local CHP spokesman Bruce Lian.

Technically, litterers could be arrested based on a citizen’s complaint. But witnesses would have to identify culprits in a lineup, which few are able to do, Lian said. Nor is the district attorney’s office likely to pursue charges over a relatively minor offense.

On the other hand, the district attorney might pursue criminal charges if a tossed cigarette causes a fire or if litter requires a massive cleanup, Lian said. Then, witnesses could prove vital in gaining a conviction.

If huge fines aren’t enough to deter would-be litterers, perhaps keeping the world clean will be reason enough not to carelessly toss things out the window. Remember former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s semi-famous anti-littering advice to Brits a few years ago:

“Bag it, and bin it, and that way, we’ll win it.”

Dear Street Smart:

A convenient bypass to congestion on the southbound San Diego Freeway near the El Toro Y has been eliminated. The road-widening project on Moulton Parkway through Laguna Hills has taken out one of the three traffic lanes during the construction period. This problem could be partially overcome if the traffic signals at El Toro Road could be re-sequenced during the roadwork.

Donald Norberg San Marino Ironically, several Street Smart readers in the past wrote asking when the Moulton Parkway widening project would ever begin. Now comes the first letter asking for the project to go away!

Frustration is understandable. Moulton is heavily used to bypass the El Toro Y, as you point out. When work is done by the end of summer, traffic will have three lanes in each direction to use, instead of the former two lanes.

Until then, hang in there. The county says it has adjusted signals as much as possible, but there’s just not much that can be done to alleviate the inconvenience that comes with construction.

“It’s a problem we are aware of and we’re handling it the best we can,” said Roger Hohnbaum, manager of county road programs. “Unfortunately, the motorists are going to have to bear with us until we get that work done.”

Dear Street Smart:

The left-turn pockets from southbound Coast Highway to Crown Valley Parkway need to be extended. Traffic wanting to make a left-turn often backs up and sticks out into the main highway, a very dangerous condition forcing through traffic to swerve. No doubt the intersection was designed when maybe only three or four cars were waiting to make a left turn. Now, at almost any given time, there is a string of cars which cannot get into the lanes.

James C. Kerr Laguna Beach Another reader suggested the same thing a year ago. Once again, Caltrans has the same answer--no changes are needed to those lanes. The agency says the pocket is big enough to handle existing traffic volumes, according to David Cordova, chief of traffic operations.

The city of Dana Point is working with Caltrans to improve that intersection, but the work in August is to give Crown Valley traffic more time to turn onto Coast Highway, according to city engineer Dennis Jue.

At this point, Street Smart can only suggest that those wanting the left-turn pocket extended should write Caltrans and Dana Point. Caltrans is responsible for the pocket, but perhaps Dana Point could incorporate the extension into the work it already has on the drawing board.

Street Smart appears Mondays in The Times Orange County Edition. Readers are invited to submit comments and questions about traffic, commuting and what makes it difficult to get around in Orange County. Include simple sketches if helpful. Letters may be published in upcoming columns. Please write to Danny Sullivan, c/o Street Smart, The Times Orange County, P.O. Box 2008, Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626. Include your full name, address and day and evening phone numbers. Letters may be edited, and no anonymous letters will be accepted.

Litterbugs The California Highway Patrol issues more than 1,000 citations a year statewide for littering and even more than that for throwing burning objects, such as cigarettes, out of vehicles. The number of citations issued each year: Burning Objects 1987: 3,732 1988: 3,497 1989: 4,057 1990: 4,449 1991: 4,936 Litter 1987: 1,688 1988: 1,477 1989: 1,593 1990: 1,609 1991: 1,373 Source: California Highway Patrol