Daily Research News Online no. 1045 - Litterbugs on British Roads

Litterbugs on British Roads

August 3 2001

Almost two thirds of people in the UK (60%) believe that roadside litter is a worse problem now than was five years ago. This is the headline finding from a new MORI survey commissioned by jamjar.com, Direct Line's motoring site, timed to support the Tidy Britain Group's Car Litter campaign launched this week.

The new research highlights the disturbing trend that young people are generally five times more likely to throw litter out of their vehicle than older people. They are also significantly less likely to about doing so. Almost one in three (31%) aged 16-24 said it did not bother them to see others chucking litter from their vehicles.

Regionally, the North East and Yorkshire and Humberside are the worst regions for seeing others throwing litter out of their vehicles. Over four fifths (88%) have seen others discard litter, compared with only two-thirds (67%) of people in London. The South East, excluding London (87%) is the second worst region, closely followed by Scotland and the East Midlands (84%).

More Welsh admitted discarding litter from their vehicles than anyone else, with one in four (25%) doing so. Almost one in four (23%) Scots and people from the Eastern region also admitted throwing litter. Nationally, under one fifth (19%) admitted to the offence.

At the same time, three-quarters (75%) of all respondents think fines are not enough of a deterrent. Rather, people responded with the following punishments:

Spending a day with a dustman (31%)
Larger fixed penalty fines (27%)
Community service (13%)
Public humiliation - wearing a sign in public saying "I drop litter" (8%)
Imprisonment (3%).

In terms of existing fines, 79% of respondents willing to hazard a guess estimated the average fine to be just under £230 - far in excess of the actual £25 fixed penalty. Nationally however, only 13% of people think that the police take littering from vehicles seriously. The Car Litter campaign, therefore, aims to encourage people to take their litter home instead of discarding it at the roadside.

Commenting on the roadside litter problem, Alan Woods, the chief executive of Tidy Britain Group, said "It is our firm belief that most people in this country are absolutely disgusted by litter and are tired of picking up the tab for other people's dirty habits. What we're aiming at with this campaign is to galvanise that majority into making a public statement on car rubbish, so that the litter dropper is reminded that his or her actions are unacceptable, anti-social and criminal."

Oliver Prill, jamjar.com's managing director, added, "It costs councils over £350 million to clean up our streets. We are proud to help the Tidy Britain Group encourage people to take their litter home. Jamjar.com is lobbying the DTLR to ensure the Highway Code is updated to make people aware that littering the sides of our roads is an offence and can be dangerous."

The survey was conducted by MORI Financial Services on behalf of Direct Line between 14th and 19th June 2001. A total of 1,983 interviews were conducted face-to-face across Great Britain among adults aged 16 and over.

All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.