Also surprenant que cela puisse paraître, plus d’un conductor sur quatre (27%) jette encore ses déchets por la fenêtre de sa voiture lorsqu’il roule sur l’autoroute, selon un enquête* réalisée par Ipsos pour la Fondation Vinci Autoroutes en July.
Above all, while young people are increasingly concerned about climate change, those under 35 are, paradoxically, the ones who most easily throw their waste on the side of the road. More than one in three (36%) admit to doing so “sometimes”.
In detail, motorists have fewer scruples about throwing organic waste like apple cores or fruit pits out the window. 23% admit to doing it from time to time.
The fire hazard associated with littering cigarette butts on the side of roads is increasingly recognized, yet more than one in four smokers (26%) still admit to doing so. Behavior prohibited by law. Smoking behind the wheel is prohibited for any driver, and smoking in a car in the presence of a minor is punishable by a fine of up to 750 euros.
Behaviors that are rare
The number of people throwing tissues, plastic containers or bottles out of windows is rising dangerously, says Ipsos. While last year only 3% admitted disposing of their empty bottles and cans on the road, this number rises to 10% in 2022. The same observation for paper or tissues, from 5% in 2021, is now 11% by admits doing so, and even 19% among those under 35 years of age.
Despite everything, the number of motorists who throw their waste out the window has been decreasing over the years. While they were 27% to admit it this year, they were 28% in 2021 and even 30% in 2020.
Practices that must stop. Every day, highway workers pick up an average of 25 tons of trash along the highways. “If we see any debris on the road, even on the shoulder, we stop safely and go to pick it up,” says a patrolman into the microphone of BFMTV. Laborious but also dangerous work. In 2021, an accident affected highway personnel every three days on average.
* Online survey conducted from June 24 to 27, 2022 among 2,165 people who constitute a representative sample of the French population aged 16 to 75.
Source: BFM TV
