Burning money! Why this smoker was handed a TRIPLE-sized $1,600 fine for dropping a cigarette butt
- A smoker will have to front up $1,634 after flicking a cigarette out his car window
- The man fought the charge for the littering in Melbourne's North last year
- He was forced to pay the court fees of the Environmental Protection Authority
A smoker will have to pay more than $1,600 for flicking a lit cigarette butt out his car window.
He lost a court bid fighting a $634 fine from Victoria's environmental watchdog for the flicked butt, reported by a passer-by in Melbourne's north on January 25 last year.
Broadmeadows Magistrates Court found the driver guilty of littering under the Environment Protection Act and ordered him to pay the infringement notice as well as the EPA's court costs of $1,000.
The smoker was required to pay the fine in addition to the court fees of the Environment Protection Authority
The additional court fees mean that the man will be required to pay almost triple the original fine.
'Cigarette butt litter pollutes our roadsides and chokes our waterways,' EPA chief executive Cathy Wilkinson said after the decision.
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'EPA counts on members of the public to report people who flick their butts out of car windows.'
More than 11,000 Victorians copped fines totalling more than $5 million in the last financial year for discarding litter, mostly cigarette butts, from their vehicles.
The man fought the charge at Broadmeadows Magistrates Court for the incident last year
