Wednesday, Mar. 03, 2010

It's time to report littering

The U.S. 70 bypass of Clayton has won plaudits for its aesthetics. Obviously, the folks doing the praising haven't looked closely at the side of the road.

Over the past few months, I've driven the new highway a lot. It's trashed. And we all know where the trash comes from: the people riding up and down the highway.

The good news is that it's unlawful to litter. The bad news is that no one reports it.

Granted, littering is a far cry from drunk driving, which puts lives at risk. Few people hesitate to dial *HP when they see someone weaving on the highway. Just as important, the penalties for drunk driving discourage the behavior. Folks found guilty of driving while impaired can face jail, community service, higher insurance premiums and loss of driving privileges.

Perhaps surprisingly, the penalties for littering aren't that lenient. The fine can range from $250 to $1,000 for a first offense. That's a chunk of change. Second, littering is a criminal offense, so folks guilty of the crime can find themselves doing community service.

But despite the possibility of a fine and community service, folks continue to litter. Many no doubt litter under the cover of darkness or when they know no one is around . But some are flagrant because they know no one is going to report them.

In the last few months, I've seen two or three instances of littering, and while I thought about picking up my cell phone, I never did. I rationalized that the case wouldn't hold up in court because I didn't see the face of the person doing the littering. The best I could offer the Highway Patrol or local police was a license-plate number. What good would that have done?

But such rationalization isn't helping to keep our roadways free of litter. At the very least, if I called in a plate number, the state could send the vehicle owner a letter letting him know that he or someone in his car had littered. Maybe that would be enough to discourage future littering.

I won't know until I try. I just need to remember to pull off to the side of the road when making that call. Don't want to have an accident while reporting a litterbug.