Indiana State Police Crack Down On Drivers Who Flick Cigarettes Out Window
INDIANAPOLIS (CBS) -- The drought has Indiana State Police looking more closely at what's coming out of cars.
As WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports, Indiana State Police Supt. Paul Whiteshell is reminding troopers that it is against the law to throw a cigarette or a cigar out of the car, regardless of the conditions.
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But with the current drought conditions making fires more likely, Whiteshell is telling troopers to enforce the law more aggressively.
Whiteshell says there have been several significant fires that were sparked by discarded smoking materials.
The fine for tossing cigars, cigarettes or matches from a car can be as high as $10,000.
So far this year, troopers have written about 200 tickets, compared to 368 during all of 2011 and more than 600 each of the two previous years.
The worsening drought conditions prompted the Indiana Department of Homeland Security to place the entire state of Indiana under a water shortage warning Tuesday.
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