Cars are pretty high-tech these days. Manufacturers are racing to see who can come up with the latest gadgets. I’d prefer if they’d go old school and bring back ashtrays.
I don’t need one, but a lot of other people do.
I’m tired of sitting in traffic watching some pig in front of me toss a cigarette butt out the window onto the street. Or even worse, flick it away while they’re driving and the wind blows it onto my car or someone else’s.
It’s more annoying than anything. There usually isn’t any direct harm to me or other drivers, though there’s always the chance of a butt landing in an open sunroof or window, or igniting roadside grass or leaves during particularly dry times.
The biggest impact is to the environment, wildlife and the people who live nearby.
You often can anticipate when a butt will fly. Look for the cars driving with their windows half-down, regardless of whether it’s 100 degrees, 10 degrees or raining buckets. First you’ll see the occasional puff of smoke. Then you’ll see the hand, trying to appear nonchalant, drop or flick the butt away.
The driver’s excuse, I’m sure, is that most cars don’t have ashtrays anymore.
I guess smokers are too lazy to come up with an alternative, such as a container with a little sand or some water to store their finished smokes until they can discard them someplace appropriate, where the rest of the world doesn’t have to look at them.
The sad part is that most smokers probably don’t even consider tossing a butt to be littering. They’d probably never toss empty bottles, food wrappers or other items from their car. There’s no difference.
I understand why ashtrays have disappeared from vehicles. Fewer people are smoking, and ashtrays weren’t the prettiest items. Carmakers used the space to add more popular amenities such as charging ports for electronics and better entertainment systems. I bet an ashtray still could be squeezed in and disguised to look nicer than they used to.
There really is no downside to restoring ashtrays to vehicles. Wise people who don’t smoke could use the tray to store coins, candy or whatever else. That’s what I used to do.
In the meantime, smokers can be responsible and buy portable ashtrays that fit in cup holders or elsewhere in the car. They are easy to find online. Some will cost you less than a pack of smokes. That would be money well-spent for all of us.
