Cigarette ash flick costs Staten Islander $240 in N.J.

Staten Island Live ^ | 06.28.05

[Coleus]

Cigarette ash flick costs Islander $240 in N.J. Tuesday, June 28, 2005

ADVANCE STAFF REPORT

A New Springville man is irate after being hit with a $240 ticket by a New Jersey state trooper for flicking cigarette ash out of his car window on Sunday afternoon on Route 80 , according to a published report.

"It's ridiculous," John Nestor, 40, told the New York Post. "Do people get summonses for walking down the street with a cigarette? Where do they flick their ashes? Are they going to put ashtrays on every street corner?"

A state trooper began trailing Nestor, as he was driving home from the Poconos with his wife and twin 12-year-old sons, and pulled him over near Allamuchy.

"He said, 'You were littering,'" said Nestor, who works as a telecommunications operations manager for CBS. Nestor thought his kids might have thrown something out of the window. "Then he said, 'Your cigarette ash.'"

Nestor received a summons for "Littering from M.V. [motor vehicle]," and lists "ashes" as the description of offense.

Sgt. Gerald Lewis, a spokesman for the New Jersey State Police, was surprised to hear Nestor's version of the story.

"That would be littering -- but I find it hard to believe it's just the ashes," he told the Post. "More than likely it was an entire cigarette, which is a fire hazard. If the gentleman is going to contest it, then all the specifics are going to come out in the trooper's testimony. I don't believe this gentlemen is telling you the whole story."

Nestor plans to fight the charge in court.

[LasVegasMac]

the driver in the car in front of him flicked his lit cigarette out the window and it went right through the hood opening and onto the engine.

Needless to say my friend panicked, thinking that the engine could catch fire, and made an abrupt stop, causing the semi behind him to jack-knife.

Your'e friend is an idiot and needs to take Drivers Ed again, maybe twice.

A panic stop, over a butt?

No chance of just pulling over and checking things out, huh?

I bet that truck driver wanted to kick his / her a$$.

Certainly had it coming.

LVM

[JediForce]

If the guy who flicked the ash had been an illegal alien....er...temporary guest smoker...this never would have happened. He would have been sent on his merry way. He would have been flicking ashes Americans won't flick.


To Turn Off Sarcasm...Press 1 Now.

JEDI

[Hilltop]

If the ash was not lit, you must acquit.

Sure New Jersey is quite the gem of America, perhaps this "officer" was bored, needed some excitement and to meet ticket quota.

Non-smokers, spare me your self righteousness.

[Coleus]

I get sick of smokers using the rest of the world as their personal ash tray. >>

Me too, especially while digging in the sand at the Jersey shore, it's gross. It's probably something those BENNY's do.

[T.Smith]

Agreed. Getting a ticket for an ash is ash-inine.

Dank you berry much.

[mark3681]

We toss them there for the homeless. It's a charitable thing.

[Who dat?]

I forget what state I was in... it was either CA, OR, NV, UT, or NM... anyhow, the fine for disposing of burning materials was $1,000 or $1,200 or something like that. Had it posted on signs right beside the interstate. Gee, I wonder what they were talking about as "burning materials"...

[Experiment 6-2-6]

Folks, it was just ASH. Not the cigarette butt.

Biodegradable, and there's no way any judge is going to uphold the fine. It will be dismissed. More debris is left from your tires as they speed along the freeway than the flick from a lit cigarette..

[PAR35]

People throw food out of their cars.

Ticket them for littering as well.

[Arkie2]

Spoken like a true anti smoking nazi.

[Pablo64]

Ok, to show you just how "un-hip" I am, please explain "BENNY's" to me (or would I have to live in Jersey to understand?).

[Graybeard58]

I just bought a Toyota Corola. Ash trays are a $50 optional item (That I did not buy) Why buy a $50 ash tray when I have a perfectly good car window.

Always check your rear view window for cops before flicking.

[mark3681]

In the military you are told to pinch the end off your cigarette and put the filter in your pocket to be disposed of properly. The filter is the only thing not biodegradable.

Still, throwing the cig out the window is not a good idea. Flick the end off and put the butt in the ash tray.

[gidget7]

While I see your point, seems the answer is to provide ashtrays, since the newer cars don't even come with them. Now that would be an answer! And the fact that druggies leaving needles all over is allowed to happen, they are simply thrown away, never traced to the owner which they should be. Even in the NE, which USED to be clean, is littered from one end to the other, with garbage, cuz people are too lazy to take it home and throw it in the trash.

The fire thing is real, and again I say, provide ash trays, it's the only answer that makes sense.

[Hilltop]

If you read closely, all he did was flick the ashes.

[Bernard]

Your'e friend is an idiot and needs to take Drivers Ed again, maybe twice.

Somehow, I don't think Drivers Ed is going to cover that situation. Some people can't be trained out of their basic problem.

In the Chicago area people keep walking or driving past flashing lights and lowered gates at reailroad crossings. There is a cure for it, but it's a one-time cure with no refund policy.

[mark3681]

LOL

AGREED!!!

[Hilltop]

You are correct, many autos no longer have ash trays as standard equipment.

[gidget7]

bored, or it was the month's end and he wanted to reach his quota for fines.

[BunnySlippers]

I live in L.A. and the fine for flipping a butt out a window in the canyon areas (they are all over Hollywood, Malibu, the Valley and Beverly Hills) is substantial. Anyone who does it is a MORON and I support fining.