Two drivers are $575 poorer after being handed tickets by police for flicking cigarette butts out of the window of their vehicles.
Del Manak, Victoria’s police chief, says he saw a parked driver in the 22oo block of Quadra Street on Aug. 25 flick a lit cigarette out of the window, which then landed on a grass median.
“I put it out & wrote $575 ticket,” Manak wrote on Twitter. “Driver – I have no ashtray in car. I see people [do] it all the time. I was planning to get out to put it out after I got off the phone.”
One week earlier on Aug. 18, Saanich Police issued a ticket for the same thing on the Trans-Canada Highway and McKenzie Avenue.
Saanich Police shared the ticket, and used it as a reminder for people to remember the current fire risk and the number of wildfires burning across the province.
The fire risk on the South Island remains Extreme, which is the highest level, and there are 366 active wildfires burning across the province.
2/2 the most awkward part was as follows: driver asking for a warning, stating it isn’t a serious matter, he’s seen lots of others do the same and they were never fined.
Driver – “I want to talk to a supervisor!”
Officer standing with me – “Sir, he’s the Chief!”
Driver – silence— Del Manak (@ChiefManak) August 25, 2023
Please discard your cigarette butts accordingly, and not out your car window. Especially given the current fire ratings here in Saanich and across our province. #bcwildfires pic.twitter.com/BkZCD97soH
— Saanich Police (@SaanichPolice) August 24, 2023
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Laura Brougham
