Saanich motorist issued $575 ticket after tossing lit cigarette from his vehicle

Talk about bad timing — not there’s ever good time to throw loose flames out of a car during wildfire season.

On Saturday evening, a Saanich driver was fined $575 for tossing a lit cigarette from their vehicle directly in front of VicPD Chief of Police, Del Manak.

See also:

• Reckless Victoria driver throws lit cigarette into open window of another car
• Cigarettes make up half of the waste recovered on Victoria’s shorelines

According to Manak, he was cruising down Pat Bay highway at around 6:15 p.m. when the driver in front him allegedly tossed a lit cigarette out of their car window while driving at high speeds.

When the Chief approached the driver, they simply pointed to their centre cup holder and said, “I didn’t want my car to burn.”

Manak’s response was savagely simple.

“Then don’t smoke in your car.”

The driver was then issued a $575 ticket for the drop, release, or mishandling of a burning substance under the Wildfire Act.

Surprisingly, this brazen incident isn’t the first time that the VicPD Chief has seen someone toss a cigarette from their car directly in front of him.

On September 5th, 2018, a very similar case of dangerous littering occurred.

In that instance, after the speeding driver tossed a lit cigarette from out of their car window, he tried to excuse his actions by saying that he “…would never do it near grass.”

In total, that driver was fined $219 for speeding and littering on the highway.