I do a lot of my driving at night and still see these idiots tossing their butts out the window, why are these people so stupid?

I smoke a few American Spirits and use a soda or juice can with water, outside only. I have never thrown a cigarette out the window of my car, ever. I have always been a careful and considerate smoker.

Thanks @Coloma I don’t know if you have seen us on your news down there but it is getting ridiculous the last estimate I heard the damage alone was getting around a hundred million, and that isn’t one penny towards the fighting of these fires.
And the people these fires have displaced is mind blowing you would think we were at war.

@SQUEEKY2 Same here in CA. over 30 fires burning statewide, crazy. Whether illegal campfires, cigarettes, whatever, really tragic. Living for the last 25 years in a high wildfire zone I am extra careful when I have a smoke and always put it out in water.

Most vehicles don’t come with ash trays any more.
We use those plastic dollar ash cups. The lid is an inverted cone with a hole in the middle.

Anybody who would throw a burning butt out the car window during a drought or high wind does not have the mental capability to even ask themselves that question.

True @Dutchess_III and it would probably distract them from texting and driving as well.

I’m giving this a “GQ.”

Here’s previous question from over 5 years ago. https://www.fluther.com/119127/why-do-smokers-treat-the-earth-as-if-it-is-their/

I don’t understand why smokers think the world is their ashtray.

Not all smokers do.

Smokers don’t care that they are damaging their own lungs. Why should they care about damaging other things?

One doesn’t translate to the other, @gondwanalon.

Oh jeez…really? Smoking a few cigarettes equates to not caring about damaging the earth and other things? Pffft!

Right? We’re all thoughtless, careless losers who don’t give a shit about anything.

Not all but it appears that there are smokers that don’t give a…... about anything.

There are. And there are non smokers who don’t give a shit about anything.

The answer is that an appreciable chunk of the population is, has always been, and always will be shallow, self-involved, thoughtless, inconsiderate assholes.

A hundred years from now, we’ll all be dead, but that statistical chunk will still be walking the planet, making life more annoying and difficult for everyone else.

My point being, don’t stress too much, or spit in the wind, or fret about the changing tides.

It just is.

We’ll we should fret though. It’s the world we’re leaving to our descendants.

At least non-smokers don’t toss lit cigarette butts out the windows of vehicles.

I agree we should fret a bit, just today another careless smoker tossing a butt, caused a forest fire, putting serval homes in danger.
We have serval hundred fires going right now,maybe just a little fretting might be good if it causes any of these smokers just a second thought about tossing a butt on the highway.

Throwing cigarette butts out of a car window or disposing of them anywhere other than a trash can is negligent and careless but most wildfires are started by illegal campfires. Fire is fire and to be reckless or careless with any kind of fire is, well, reckless and careless.

Not all smokers throw butts out the window, either @gondwanalon.

I don’t know about where you live, but here they put out “fire warnings,” just like a weather report.

@Dutchess_III There are huge signs on our highways up here that say “No hand held devices” Another is “Leave the phone alone focus on driving” and yet you see people on their cell phones all the time while driving.
I bring that up because there are signs saying forest fire danger extreme, others say don’t throw your butts out, others say use your ash tray and yet smokers still throw their butts out the window in tinder dry conditions.
I will come to your defence and say not all do, but a great deal still do, and these people seem to fail and realize the damage they can do by simply chucking a butt out the window.
What is it going to take to wake these people up? JAIL TIME?

@SQUEEKY2 You can’t wake anybody up, all we can do is behave the way we wish others would. Trust me, there are HUGE fines and jail time for those that are convicted of starting wildfires. Some never get caught but a lot do.

@gondwanalon….do you drink bottled water? I ask because we went to a new lake scouting for a new campsite. Every damn camp site I ever go to has trash thrown around that I pick up. I am meticulous about it. My campsites are always cleaner when we leave than when we got there.
But you know the number one trash that gets thrown in the woods and all about? It’s not beer cans. It’s plastic water bottles.
Can I reasonably surmise from that that everyone who drinks bottled water is an uncaring, eco-unfriendly, selfish, careless slob?

I get it that a lot of people are careless, thoughtless, idiots that think the world is their trash can or ash tray, not all do ,there are a great deal who do care and are careful with their trash and butts.
The problem is that litter bugs are seldom responsible for starting forest fires and destroying homes and property.

Yes. But they’re responsible for other mayhem that may not directly involve humans.

PS I was talking to @gondwanalon and his sweeping generalization of smokers.