Points on licence bid for litter lout drivers branded unworkable (From Echo)

Points on licence bid for litter lout drivers branded unworkable

8:00am Friday 10th July 2009

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A CALL to hand out penalty points to drive-by litter louts has been branded unworkable by south Essex councillors.

Keep Britain Tidy has said motorists should be responsible for any items thrown out their cars, and given a single penalty point on their driving licence if caught.

However, councillors are not so supportive of such tough action.

Malcolm Buckley, Basildon Council’s cabinet member for the environment, and Ian Robertson, Southend councillor responsible for public protection, said the scheme was admirable in theory, but would be difficult to work and police.

Mr Robertson said: “The idea of it is excellent but the practical aspect of it is difficult, because the procedures of giving the points is often more complicated than you imagine.

“I would just try to encourage more people to keep their litter in their cars and recycle it when they get home.”

Mr Buckley said it would be difficult to enforce the penalty points, because each prosecution would need evidence that could stand up in any court challenges.

He added: “I also don’t think you can punish the driver for something the passenger does.”

Motorists can already be fined for throwing out litter, but Keep Britain Tidy said more than 700,000 bags of trash containing apple cores, cigarette stubs, drinks cartons and fast food litter is still picked up from England’s roads each year.

It claimed almost a quarter of drivers admit to dropping litter from their vehicles and said the best way to deter people was to make the driver responsible for his passengers and liable for penalty points.

Ginette Braithwaite, project officer for the Thundersley-based environment group Green Grid Taskforce, said the risk of racking up penalty points had not stopped drivers using mobile phones illegally, while agreeing motorists need to be put off littering.

She said: “I don’t know whether penalty points are the answer. It doesn’t seem to put people off using their mobile phones.”

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