It is a gesture that may seem trivial but has terrible consequences. Still too many smoking motorists throw their cigarette butts out of their vehicle windows. On the occasion of this new weekend of vacation departures, and while several fires have already taken place in recent weeks, the‘Valabre Entente (a public establishment which works in particular for the training of firefighters) and the Vinci Autoroutes Foundation are launching a new prevention campaign. It will take place in six areas of the Mediterranean arc this summer. And, at the beginning of August, it stops at the Port Lauragais rest area, on the A61 motorway towards Narbonne.
– SM
One in four smokers
For this stop-butts workshop, firefighters are present during Friday Saturday and Sunday. Documentation and small ashtrays will also be distributed. Because the numbers are relentless. Philippe Carton, project manager at the Vinci Autoroutes foundation, details them. “In 2018, it was estimated that 100 cigarette butts were thrown away per kilometer of highway per day and in both directions. And one in four smokers admits that they sometimes throw their cigarette butts out of their car window, according to a recent study.”
And Jean Marc, who is on break at the Port Lauragais area, is one of them. “It happens. While driving, it happens. There are no more ashtrays in cars. Sometimes we forget. Walls in cars are complicated. We are not going to crush it on the seat. So the solution c is to throw it out the window.”
Pocket ashtrays distributed
In one weekend, the Vinci foundation will distribute 700 ashtrays on the Port Lauragais area. 30,000 everywhere in France this summer. Luc Langeron of the Entente Valabre, which works to train firefighters, pleads for the throwing of cigarette butts to finally stop. “Behind a jet of cigarette butts, there is not always a fire. But behind a fire, there is often a cigarette butt. All the big hits this summer, at least half of which are due to cigarette butts. is recklessness, thoughtlessness or lack of civility.”
Fires that have enormous consequences, said Colonel Laurent Pille, deputy director of the Haute-Garonne fire department. “There are consequences on the vegetation, on the fauna, the flora. These are also human consequences with homes that will go up in smoke. These are economic consequences, as we have seen in Gironde with devastated campsites. And then there are the consequences for our forces, the firefighters.”
And there is still a lot of preventive work to be done. According to studies, 16-24 year olds are the most likely to throw waste out of their car windows.