Let’s forget for a minute about the adverse health effects of first-hand smoking and second-hand smoke. This is about a danger of a different sort wrought by idiot smokers.
Full disclosure: I smoke, but outside the adverse health effects part I don’t count myself among the idiots because I do not throw the smoldering butts on the ground. Ever. If an ashtray is not available, I stub it out and put it back in the package.
Sadly, I am among the minority. According to visual research conducted while driving and a press release issued today by the Texas Department of Transportation, six of every 10 smokers flick their butts out car windows when driving.
What was that word again? C’mon, I just used it … oh, right — idiots.
It’s hot outside, it hasn’t rained in about 23 years, and according to the press release, “Nearly the entire state is experiencing extreme or exceptional drought, and stupid freakin’ drivers who litter cigarette butts put the state at risk for wildfires.” Can you guess which two words I added to that sentence? Hint: The second one is italicized.
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So, TxDOT plans to erect [snicker] a billboard campaign to remind dumb-ass driving smokers that “Texas Is Not Your Ashtray.”
Do, please, keep your butt in the car.
Bruce Felps owns and operates East Dallas Times, an online community news outlet serving the White Rock Lake area. He might be an idiot but he’s a conscientious idiot.
