Drivers Face £80 Fines For Any Litter Thrown From Their Vehicle, Even If It Was A Passenger Who Threw It

Drivers are to face automatic £80 fines if litter is thrown from their vehicles – even if one of their passengers is to blame.

Ministers are considering a change in the law that will make motorists responsible for any rubbish dropped from their vehicles.

Council officers will be instructed to note the number plates of ‘offending’ vehicles, and an £80 penalty will then automatically be sent to the car’s registered owner

Evidence could also be collected by CCTV cameras.

Unless drivers are willing to identify the culprit they will have to pay the fine, even if they were not aware litter had been dropped while they were driving. Those who refuse could face trial in a magistrates’ court, with a potential fine of up to £2,500.

Councils and environmental campaigners have been pressing for the change for years, arguing that existing laws make it all but impossible to prosecute drivers for littering.

Supporters say the change would also spare council staff the need to confront drivers suspected of littering.
But there were warnings last night that the new law could quickly become another ‘cash cow’ for councils.

Motorists can already be fined for littering, but local authorities claim the law is almost impossible to enforce as officials have to prove the identity of the person who dropped the litter.

The planned change in the law would make the driver liable unless there was direct evidence that a passenger was responsible.
Clyde Loakes, of the Local Government Association, said the existing loophole in the law allowed offenders to get away ‘scot-free’.

He said the fines would help councils cover the annual £850million cost of keeping the streets clean.

Council staff could be deployed to ‘problem’ laybys and car parks specifically to enforce the litter laws. He added: ‘It’s time to get tough on lazy, selfish people who toss rubbish from moving cars and expect other people to cover the cost of cleaning it up. Getting tough on people who drop rubbish on our carriageways is one way to tackle a problem which is costly, difficult and dangerous to clean up.’

The change in the law could be incorporated in the Localism Bill that is going through Parliament.

More than two million items of litter are dropped in Britain each day, with motorists blamed for 70 per cent of the problem in some areas.

A survey by the Keep Britain Tidy Group found that a fifth admitted throwing litter from vehicles, with cigarette butts, chewing gum and drink cartons among the items most often discarded.

The study found that men aged under 35 were the most likely to drop litter from their cars, particularly if they were smokers.

Ministers have previously resisted extending the power of local authorities because of fears of a backlash from motorists. But they are now said to be persuaded of the need to act on environmental grounds.

Charlotte Linacre, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Motorists are already overtaxed. Councils have to make necessary spending cuts and there’s plenty of fat to trim, they shouldn’t look to plug gaps in their finances by ramping up charges on taxpayers.’


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Source : Jason Groves - www.dailymail.co.uk