Council crackdown on litterbug drivers (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
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Council crackdown on litterbug drivers
7:00am Thursday 9th July 2009 in
Bradford Council is putting its resources behind an anti-litter campaign as it reveals it spends about £6 million a year on cleaning the district’s streets.
People spotted dropping litter from vehicles will be the primary target during the Keep Britain Tidy campaign which will run for a month.
The anti-litter charity has revealed more than one in five people admit to dropping litter from their vehicle.
At the moment any passenger or driver can be fined for dropping litter but it is often difficult to identify the offending person.
Keep Britain Tidy believes the vehicle owner should be fined and issued with a penalty point on their licence unless they provide details of the culprit.
Phil Barton, Keep Britain Tidy chief executive, said: “The owner should be responsible for the actions of those inside the car. We therefore want the law to go further and see a penalty point put on the licence of those that litter from vehicles.
“It is one of the most annoying things to see – a lazy driver pulls up at the lights and dumps their litter on the road.
“Our streets have become a giant dumping ground. Drivers and their passengers should take their litter home with them.”
Bradford Council will work with the charity to gather evidence on when and where car litter offences occur and campaign to raise awareness of the problem.
So far this year the Council has dealt with 103 vehicle littering offences – for which people can be fined up to £75.
Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, Bradford Council’s executive member for environment and culture, said: “We are fully on board with this Keep Britain Tidy campaign to crack down on people who throw litter out of their vehicles and this is something we are already tackling in Bradford.
“It can make our district look dirty and unpleasant, and this is something we won’t tolerate. A lot of the litter on our streets does come from vehicles. Throughout this campaign we will be monitoring the level of the problem on several streets in the district.”
People are encouraged to report littering offences to the Council on (01274) 434366, or to Keep Britain Tidy by visiting keepbritaintidy.org.
Comments(23)
flapper
says...
7:43am Thu 9 Jul 09
dazbot
says...
9:17am Thu 9 Jul 09
flapper wrote:£75 is not enough, it should be twice that amount.
what about the mess dustbin men leave behind when they have emptied wheelie bins.litter all over my street when they been.i watch them drop the rubbish on road and they never bother to pick it up.double standards by the council i say.
But..(in view of the general litter problem) there should also be twice the amount of bins.
Its all down to education and what their parents did/do.
NOTSOCOMMENSENSE
says...
10:11am Thu 9 Jul 09
Biker71
says...
10:33am Thu 9 Jul 09
What we have here is yet another easy tax from car drivers, simple as that.
albion
says...
10:42am Thu 9 Jul 09
Biker71 wrote:Yes but if they are chucking rubbish from their vehicle do they not deserve some penalty?
So the driver should get a fine and a penalty point for his passengers dropping litter? since when has an adult been responsible for another adults behaviour?
What we have here is yet another easy tax from car drivers, simple as that.
tyker
says...
10:57am Thu 9 Jul 09
"So the driver should get a fine and a penalty point for his passengers dropping litter? since when has an adult been responsible for another adults behaviour?
What we have here is yet another easy tax from car drivers, simple as that."
if an adult passenger is not wearing a seat belt the driver is responsible and gets the penalty points and fine.
cheeky1
says...
11:48am Thu 9 Jul 09
Gaverz
says...
12:12pm Thu 9 Jul 09
tyker: Actually no it's only if they are a child and not wearing a seatbelt do the police issue a fine. If it's an adult passenger, it no longer becomes the driver's responsibility. Although I don't think I'd want the passenger behind me to come flying into the back of my head at 30mph (Though in Bradford probably more) if there was an accident.
OVERALL good idea. I'm fed up with seeing people throw litter from their cars and being too lazy to wait until they get to a bin or back home. Roads are for driving not for dumping rubbish on!
Iona Cortina
says...
12:53pm Thu 9 Jul 09
flapper wrote:That's a very good point.
what about the mess dustbin men leave behind when they have emptied wheelie bins.litter all over my street when they been.i watch them drop the rubbish on road and they never bother to pick it up.double standards by the council i say.
But I guess they're immune from all that.
Warthog
says...
12:59pm Thu 9 Jul 09
They can't enforce the seatbelt law, the no mobiles while driving law, the stupidly parked vehicles law, so why worry about a few bits of paper & cig butts?
Besides, it keeps the litter pickers & street sweepers in work. ;)
scanipoos
says...
1:10pm Thu 9 Jul 09
scanipoos
says...
1:10pm Thu 9 Jul 09
ItchyBungle
says...
1:22pm Thu 9 Jul 09
Welcome To The New World Order
says...
1:36pm Thu 9 Jul 09
yezboss
says...
6:33pm Thu 9 Jul 09
webess
says...
6:33pm Thu 9 Jul 09
tyker wrote:Wrong - driver is only responsible for children without seatbelts.
quote
"So the driver should get a fine and a penalty point for his passengers dropping litter? since when has an adult been responsible for another adults behaviour?
What we have here is yet another easy tax from car drivers, simple as that."
if an adult passenger is not wearing a seat belt the driver is responsible and gets the penalty points and fine.
Besides, anyone with half a brain is simply going to say they' picked up a hitch-hiker and have no idea who they are.
webess
says...
6:36pm Thu 9 Jul 09
But motorists, or at least those of us properly registered are soft targets.
Dr Evil
says...
2:04am Fri 10 Jul 09
Dr Evil
says...
2:08am Fri 10 Jul 09
ms walker
says...
10:54pm Fri 10 Jul 09
It's utterly selfish and there is no excuse for it. There should be bigger fines. MUCH bigger fines. Take your crap home with you and recycle it, you lazy dirty scuffers.
albion
says...
9:17am Sat 11 Jul 09
ms walker wrote:"Scuffers"! Do you mean to say the police are responsible for all this littering?
I hate litter. It blights the city and kills wildlife. It blocks water courses and causes accidents (ever had someone chuck a fag butt out of a car window and into an open-face helmet, you motorcyclists?)
It's utterly selfish and there is no excuse for it. There should be bigger fines. MUCH bigger fines. Take your crap home with you and recycle it, you lazy dirty scuffers.
ms walker
says...
11:21am Sat 11 Jul 09
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Jammy says...
7:30am Thu 9 Jul 09