Fined For Littering (Lincoln: apartment complex, motel, lawyer)

[MountainMen]

Wish Omaha would enforce the littering laws. The road is not your ash tray and it costs money to pay people to pick up your senseless litter.

[mattpoulsen]

Who cares if it gets picked up by a sweeper?? So will a newspaper. The point is its disgusting and irritating to everyone else. I know of at least two people pulled over for the same thing, so to suggest most cops won't do it is a bit untrue.

That said, as far as fighting, it has nothing to do with you knowing about the fine or the fact that most people who do it don't get a ticket. You did it. Its illegal. That's really all that's required. You best chance of beating the ticket is the hope that that officer doesn't show up to court if you fight it. If he does, your done. Its your word against his. But as a matter of policy the police department might not send in officers to testify for matters like these, knowing the vast majority of people will just pay the fine.

But you have to think it through. What is your defense going to be if he does show up?? Are you going to lie? Are you going to try and convince the judge that your didn't know any better hoping for leniency?? I'll guarantee the judge will give you at least the amount on the ticket.

My advice is to pay the ticket and be done. Then, go get an ashtray.

[JustMe_T3K]

Originally Posted by mattpoulsen

The point is its disgusting and irritating to everyone else.

I don't find it disgusting or irritating, so saying everyone is an over statement.

[mattpoulsen]

My favorite one is when a jackhole is driving in front of me and tosses a lit one out, which then smacks my windshield. Classy.

If you want to smoke great. But if you don't think the butt is disgusting or irritating then put it in your car's ashtray. There is a reason they're throwing them out of the car.

[pheaton]

Well if you go to court, you'll have to pay the court costs on top of your fine, which is what? $50 bucks or something, then you will most likely not win and could have to pay even more. So it's kind of silly to fight it.

Relying on the officer to show up will not work. At least 95% of the time they show up. Someone told me they get paid to show up. I'm not sure if that's true, but regardless they pretty much always show up. Plus, the judge almost always will side with the officer, and if the cop was behind you, they probably got it on camera.. haha

I personally find it rude. I live on a fairly busy street and I'm always getting butts in my yard, not to mention other litter. I'm waiting for one to start a fire in the middle of summer, that would be great. If I were a judge I'd make a person log 40 hours with a litter crew picking up trash along the road.

As for a cops judgement, who cares. I bet that unless the cop was busy doing something else, or on their way to something more important, if you throw a lit cigarette out of the window right in front of them, they are likely going to pull you over. The only reason you haven't been pulled over before is because a cop either didn't see it, or had something more important going on.

[ElkHunter]

I don't know about Nebraska, but in Wyoming, an officer writes your court date on the ticket. That's because he is scheduled to be in court on that day, it's on the calendar. All the tickets he writes for a given amount of time is for that date. He will be there as it's a normal work day for him and yes, he gets paid for it. So don't rely on him/her not showing up.

[IsThisOneTaken?]

That's not how it works in NE. The court date the officer writes on the citation is a court date usually at least two weeks in the future at a set date and time. That is an arraignment date. If you choose to contest your citation without paying the waiver, you show up on the date to be arraigned. You plead "not guility" and request a trial. The court then sets a trial date for a point in the future and notifies the officer and other witnesses.

Or you can show up and plead "no contest" and take whatever punishment the judge gives you, which may or may not be the same as the standard waiver set on the citation.

[Wyomama2]

I say they forget the fine and make you go to a parking lot and pick up all of the cigarette butts that people have thrown on the ground. And you may get that added if you go to court to fight it and get the right judge lol. He/She may decide to educate you on why this is a problem.

[Michael Weston]

Originally Posted by aerahrtlu

How many times have you gone 1 mile over the speed limit? How many times have you been pulled over for doing it?
Yes, it's against the law. There's no argument about that. But most police officers have better things to do then pull over someone for flicking a cigarette out a window.
Believe it or not there's worse things a person can do.

You're making a mountain out of a molehill.

No, I'm not. People need to start taking responsibility for their actions instead of trying to skirt the law by saying "it's just a little piece of trash." You litter, you take the chance of getting caught and getting a ticket. Period.

And for the record, police don't pull you over for going 1 mile over the limit for a number of reasons....not just "because they have better things to do." And I'm taking this from the driving class I had to take because of a speeding ticket I got....so I'm just going by what the officer leading the class said:

-Cars speedometers can vary 1-2 MPH, sometimes more if not calibrated properly. This can be used to dismiss a ticket, and is used very often.

-Radar guns require calibration. They can also be off by a couple MPH's if not properly calibrated. Their last calibration date is often used to dismiss minor speeding tickets.

-1 or 2 MPH over or under the speed limit can be due to reaction time delays, either human or computer (i.e. cruise control adjusting speed, etc.)

And those were just the ones I could remember. It's been several years. Point being, technically, going 1, 2, 3, miles over the limit is illegal. But due to several explainable factors or unknown variables, many of those situations can be explained or excused. Such is not the case with simply tossing a cigarette butt out the window.

Yes, there are certainly more important problems out there than this. Had that been the case I'm sure he would have simply let it slide. But, if the officer was in between vital situations and was simply on patrol....there's no reason why he wouldn't pull someone over for that.

Again, it's a law. If someone wants to risk breaking the law, they risk reaping the consequences of it. Simple as that.

[the old man]

up here in south dakota, throwing your butt out the window is an excuse to stop you for a breath test and for the revenue enhancment officer to make some money for the county