Posted on 07/06/2005 5:59:32 PM PDT by 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.
New Jersey makes an ash of itself. (again)
A cop sitting in the median with his car running and the catalytic converter contacting the grass?
Seems to me this trooper made a real ash of himself.
Arrgh! You beat me to it!
As a biker who has been hit by a number of burning cigarette butts flicked out the window by the drivers in front of me, I hope they throw the book at this guy. The front of the building I work in is covered with hundreds (thousands?) of butts left by smokers. They think the world is their ashtray. It's time to put an end to it.
Considering this is nothing but words on a ticket vs the story of the accused, I think I'll wait for the trial on this one...
Heck, next will be his medical records and then the house.
As a smoker I don't condone throwing cig butts out the window. Beer bottles and cans, yes. Those will get you some real fines! ;-)
Go to court and ask to see the evidence. No ash, no crime.
I once read a story about someone who flicked a cigarette out of a car window, and it ended up in another car in the drivers lap!! OUCH!
Is cigarette ash biodegradable? If so, how it that littering? People throw food out of their cars.
Pingy
True story: A friend of mine was driving down the street and 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. Luckily, there were no other cars on the road.
I know it's only ashes, but couldn't the guy buy a cheap ashtray, or put the ashes into an empty soda can or something instead of flicking it out the window?
I agree.
And I smoke.
But if this guy really was just flicking the ash out, like I do all the time, then he needs to get some legal help and make an "ash" out of that trooper - and the state.
LVM
Well, there's a reason they call it an "ash tray". I get sick of smokers using the rest of the world as their personal ash tray. Smoke if you want to, but have some courtesy and keep your butts to yourself. I especially hate it during the periods when the fire danger is high. Come on smokers, you don't have many people who will defend you anymore, you shouldn't give them more reasons to come down on you.
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