Hundreds of thousands of pieces of litter are dropped on Scotland's roadsides from vehicles each day – usually drink bottles and cups, crisp packets and fast food packaging. On our motorways alone, 50 tonnes of litter is collected every month. And on our trunk roads, our surveys found that almost 90% of areas had some type of litter present. There are four main consequences of throwing litter from cars: Roadside litter Safety – research shows that many near miss car accidents are due to drivers avoiding litter on the road Cost – roadside litter costs millions of pounds a year of taxpayers’ money to pick up Congestion – on busy roads like the M8, traffic cones need to be set out to protect the litter clearing squad which can cause delays Aesthetics – litter is a blight on Scotland’s beautiful countryside, affecting tourism and annoying many Scottish residents. Although some people seem to feel cocooned in their cars, throwing litter from your car is no better than at any other time. It is still illegal. The police and local authority officers have powers to issue £80 fines direct to drivers witnessed dropping litter from their vehicle.What you can do: Keep a hold of your vehicle litter and put in the next available bin you get to, or take home to dispose of or recycle; If you see someone littering from a vehicle, you can contact your council’s waste enforcement department with the location, colour of car and registration number; and Report incidents of flytipping
