I found myself waiting for a red light behind another vehicle this week.
That vehicle's driver had his window down, his elbow on the sill and was holding what was left of his cigarette between left thumb and forefinger. I knew exactly what was going to happen: one last drag on the butt and "flick", away it went into the ditch.

What's more, if I looked to my left I would almost think that I was stopped next to an ashtray. The ground was covered with discarded butts left to smoulder into oblivion by people who probably didn't stop to think of the potential for destruction that their action represented. I agree, between October and April of each year there might not be a lot of risk, but once the habit is formed it will continue through May to September without a second thought.

One might think that even if a fire were to start, the grassy median between two strips of double lane asphalt would contain it and nothing too serious would happen. My experience shows otherwise, as I have seen median fires fanned by winds that easily jumped across the pavement and either started into the forest or toward homes and businesses.

Half of the forest fires in BC each year are caused by human activity and smoking materials are high on the list of culprits. If you are a smoker, please use your ashtray. If you don't, you never know who might be watching and may choose to provide your licence plate number to police. A violation ticket for discarding that butt carries a penalty of $173 no matter what time of year it is.