Harford News

Harford County Sheriff's Office issued the following announcement on Oct. 10.

This week for #TrafficTipTuesday, Sgt. Lane talks about something that is unsightly, not just dangerous!

"Welcome to Traffic Tip Tuesday everyone. Today I want to talk about trash. Driving around it appears that our roadways are trash receptacles; roads are lined with trash wherever you go and left turn lanes are lined with cigarette butts. Agree with me or not, all of this trash along our roadways is unsightly and disgusting. All because of ignorant, lazy people. Why do people think it’s ok to throw their McDonald’s wrappers or Royal Farm chicken boxes out the window as they’re driving down the road? Of course there’s much more trash than that, I’m just naming a couple of examples. I’d like to see these people’s houses (maybe not) to see if they throw their trash wherever they feel like throwing it. For most people I bet that’s not the case, undoubtedly there are some that do. If you aren’t like that at home, why are you like that while you’re driving? The world is not a waste receptacle! Do you understand the hazards you are causing? Some people are blatant enough to throw trash out of their vehicle regardless of other drivers being near. This happened to one of our own as she was driving on 295 at highway speeds. The driver of a vehicle ahead of her decided he was done with his coffee and threw the coffee cup out of his window. The cup hit the hood of her vehicle splattering coffee all over the vehicle. Thank God it was only coffee that was splattered! If she would have swerved to avoid the flying object coming from the vehicle in front of her, it could have been catastrophic! Another hazard- animals. They smell the trash you throw out of your vehicles. What do you think they do? You guessed it, they get the trash in hopes of getting a snack. When the trash is in the roadway, drivers have to swerve to avoid hitting the animal. When a driver has to swerve, crashes can occur. Believe it or not there is a law prohibiting people from throwing their trash from their vehicle:

Traffic Article 21 1111(d) (Throwing, Dumping, Discharge, Deposit) any refuse on (highway, public bridge, public waters) $140.00 fine 2 points

Don’t throw trash out of your vehicle, be responsible and dispose of it properly! Stay safe; slow down, wear your seat belt, put the phone down and drive sober!"

Original source can be found here.

Source: Harford County Sheriff's Office