Man fined £150 for throwing apple core out of car window in to hedge

SharpshooterTom

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-19846121

"Cyril Falls, 53, who is a teacher at Bangor Academy, County Down, said he thought it was OK to throw the apple core because it is biodegradable."

Local council needs reeling in.

Local-womanizer

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

So throwing a fag butt on the street is ok

It's not, but yea it's a joke he was fined!

Shzm

Stupid decision.

girl2

And here's me thinkin all the time that its good to throw things like that out into nature - to feed the birds etc. I wouldn't be throwing out litter tho.

Witcher

If the argument that it's biodegradable held up people could throw waste food out anywhere they cared because it's 'biodegradable'. A line has to be drawn somewhere.

SharpshooterTom

Local-womanizer wrote: »

It's not, but yea it's a joke he was fined!

Ok sure I'll take that out.

Cybercubed

No one has considered the fact, that had said core bounced, it could have shot up and took someone's eye out or an old lady searching in the hedge for her lost bus pass may have slipped on it and injured herself badly.

Think on.

ted1

The real argument is, was the apple from an indegnious specie of apple tree? If not them there it may pose a problem to the native trees, a crime which is execution under the 1740 act of parliament, which states "one may not f.uck an imported apple core, out of ones window when propelling themselves in a internal combination engine propelled carriage."

Witcher

Cybercubed wrote: »

No one has considered the fact, that had said core bounced, it could have shot up and took someone's eye out or an old lady searching in the hedge for her lost bus pass may have slipped on it and injured herself badly.

Think on.

Take a Granny Smith to the noggin and it's good night:pac:

Ellis Dee

Clearly not a Star Trek fan or he'd know that a core ejection is something not done lightly.:):):)

gamblitis

How'd ya like them apples??

juan.kerr

Hopefully that'll learn him. Litter is litter, smart arse excuses don't work.

The Big Red Button

juan.kerr wrote: »

Hopefully that'll learn him. Litter is litter, smart arse excuses don't work.

An apple core isn't litter?!

juan.kerr

chatterpillar wrote: »

An apple core isn't litter?!

Are you asking me or telling me?

As far as I'm concerned it is litter, same as a banana peel, cigarette butt or chocolate bar wrapper.

JustAddWater

Wonder what'd happen if he threw an iPhone out the window

antodeco

So basically all apple trees are illegal now?

juan.kerr

JustAddWater wrote: »

Wonder what'd happen if he threw an iPhone out the window

Apple would probably sue him.

juan.kerr

antodeco wrote: »

So basically all apple trees are illegal now?

Yeah, that's what we are saying.

BrokenArrows

It does seem a bit mad but where do you draw the line.

An apple core,
5 apple cores.
a burger and chips from a take away
the trash from a restaurants food.

its all biodegradable!!

sarah.

I often throw compostable items out through the car window, only if there's a ditch though and I always make sure there are no cars behind me or obviously no pedestrians around. I see no harm in it?

juan.kerr

Is faeces biodegradable? Wouldn't mind be able to throw a few turds out the window at some of the tossers I see while driving.

The Big Red Button

juan.kerr wrote: »

Are you asking me or telling me?

As far as I'm concerned it is litter, same as a banana peel, cigarette butt or chocolate bar wrapper.

I'm saying it's not litter.

How is throwing an apple core out of a window all that different than an apple naturally falling naturally from a tree onto the ground?

Similarly, I wouldn't consider a banana peel to be litter, so long as it's not dropped in a public pedestrianised area.

Of course cigarette butts and plastic wrappers are litter.

Maybe I'm missing something with the apple core. But, like he said,

"To me an apple is biodegradable. There are insects and various things in the hedgerows that can benefit from it.
In the countryside, where there are hedges and probably more apples in the hedge than my apple core, I didn't feel that it was anywhere close to litter."

I absolutely agree with this.

ColmH81

Ellis Dee wrote: »

Clearly not a Star Trek fan or he'd know that a core ejection is something not done lightly.:):):)

This is actually the funniest thing I've read tonight...

CarrickMcJoe

He was nothing more than a Jobsworth.
Pity the butt didnt land on the road and was run over by the officers car. Evidence obliterated!

zenno

Blay wrote: »

If the argument that it's biodegradable held up people could throw waste food out anywhere they cared because it's 'biodegradable'. A line has to be drawn somewhere.

You are missing the most important point with this...Ok, an apple tree is minding it's own business growing in nature naturally and the apple grows to it's full size and weight and nature all alone drops the apple onto the ground, so do you think the apple tree should be prosecuted ?. Nature is nature so it was obviously the dumbest thing i ever heard in my life to fine a person for throwing a part of nature back into nature. Sometimes I think certain people out there are mentally unable to understand the basic functions of life and nature.

juan.kerr

chatterpillar wrote: »

I'm saying it's not litter.

How is throwing an apple core out of a window all that different than an apple naturally falling naturally from a tree onto the ground?

Similarly, I wouldn't consider a banana peel to be litter, so long as it's not dropped in a public pedestrianised area.

Of course cigarette butts and plastic wrappers are litter.

Maybe I'm missing something with the apple core. But, like he said,

"To me an apple is biodegradable. There are insects and various things in the hedgerows that can benefit from it.
In the countryside, where there are hedges and probably more apples in the hedge than my apple core, I didn't feel that it was anywhere close to litter."

I absolutely agree with this.

What if he threw it on a footpath or a urban road?

Maudi

juan.kerr wrote: »

JustAddWater wrote: »

Wonder what'd happen if he threw an iPhone out the window

Apple would probably sue him.

heh heh..i dont pay to much attention to stupid laws meself..i dont litter..or throw rubbish out of car windows..f..kers tossing fag buts out windows or on paths piss me off..but i do and will continue to throw apple cores banana skins into hedgerows when i see fit..i wouldnt do it in town or urban areas but yes in hedgerows yes its grand..

gamblitis

JustAddWater wrote: »

Wonder what'd happen if he threw an iPhone out the window

Get sued by Apple I presume.

MadsL

According to US Federal law (trivia quiz question) what two things can legally be thrown from a moving vehicle.

Try not to google folks....

juan.kerr

MadsL wrote: »

According to US Federal law (trivia quiz question) what two things can legally be thrown from a moving vehicle.

Try not to google folks....

Raccoons and wombats?

gamblitis

MadsL wrote: »

According to US Federal law (trivia quiz question) what two things can legally be thrown from a moving vehicle.

Try not to google folks....

Looks and abuse?

syklops

chatterpillar wrote: »

I'm saying it's not litter.

How is throwing an apple core out of a window all that different than an apple naturally falling naturally from a tree onto the ground?

Similarly, I wouldn't consider a banana peel to be litter, so long as it's not dropped in a public pedestrianised area.

Of course cigarette butts and plastic wrappers are litter.

Maybe I'm missing something with the apple core. But, like he said,

"To me an apple is biodegradable. There are insects and various things in the hedgerows that can benefit from it.
In the countryside, where there are hedges and probably more apples in the hedge than my apple core, I didn't feel that it was anywhere close to litter."

I absolutely agree with this.

Everything you said can also apply to my theoretical Irish wolfhound. Is it ok for me to dump his body into a ditch and let it biodegrade?

zenno

MadsL wrote: »

According to US Federal law (trivia quiz question) what two things can legally be thrown from a moving vehicle.

Try not to google folks....

A politician and a banker ?

Witcher

MadsL wrote: »

According to US Federal law (trivia quiz question) what two things can legally be thrown from a moving vehicle.

Try not to google folks....

One is water I believe..the other I'm not sure..something that is on fire maybe?:pac:

zenno

syklops wrote: »

Everything you said can also apply to my theoretical Irish wolfhound. Is it ok for me to dump his body into a ditch and let it biodegrade?

That's a ridiculous comparison imo.

syklops

zenno wrote: »

That's a ridiculous comparison imo.

Why?

Fuinseog

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-19846121

"Cyril Falls, 53, who is a teacher at Bangor Academy, County Down, said he thought it was OK to throw the apple core because it is biodegradable."

Local council needs reeling in.

it takes months to decompose. he should have known better.


on the subject of apples- the Ra ambushed an RUC patrol in the eighties and killed all four of them. one of the Ra threw away an apple at the scene and he was caught by the bite he taken out of it.

CarrickMcJoe

juan.kerr wrote: »

What if he threw it on a footpath or a urban road?

If it lands on footpath some young fella plays thinks hes Messi and starts kicking it till it lands on the road where it dissappears under a car wheel.

Besides theres no room on the paths because they are full of dog ****e!

juan.kerr

CarrickMcJoe wrote: »

If it lands on footpath some young fella plays thinks hes Messi and starts kicking it till it lands on the road where it dissappears under a car wheel.

Besides theres no room on the paths because they are full of dog ****e!

What if he threw an apple core covered in dogsh**e out the window?

Witcher

Fuinseog wrote: »

it takes months to decompose. he should have known better.

That raises another question..what time period for decomposition is acceptable? Could you throw a can out the window? Sure it would take longer than an apple to disintegrate but given enough time it would decompose and but it is technically 'biodegradable'.

Easist thing for everyone is just to outlaw all littering, means less bureaucracy in deciding what is/isn't acceptable littering.

Grayson

I get the idea that it's wrong to throw out a load of rubbish like a sack of apple cores. But one core.

I'd have no trouble throwing it out. In a couple of days most of it would have been munched on by nature. What's left will degrade and make the soil better.

If it was more than an apple core, like the remains of a take away, I'd understand. But it was just an apple core.

zenno

syklops wrote: »

Why?

There is a very big difference from an apple falling from a tree or thrown out compared to the disposal of the body of a dog which can decay and inflict a disease, but i suppose the humble apple-core is compared to this ?. Look, if you want to be politically correct go ahead but i just don't see the connection.

MadsL

Blay wrote: »

One is water I believe..the other I'm not sure..something that is on fire maybe?:pac:

Water is indeed one of the them.
Now the other anyone...??

MadsL

juan.kerr wrote: »

Raccoons and wombats?

Wait a second....Wombats? Geographical distribution of quadrupeds is not your strong suit is it?

hurpederp

That is an utterly ridiculous sentence.

Was the person who charged him an arsehole or just an idiot? Surely the person administering the fine has some sort of personal discretion over the situation.

Grayson

Blay wrote: »

What about 2 apple cores? A bag of them?

Saying an apple core is fine means one can argue..why the leftovers of the chicken you had for dinner isn't ok to throw out on the street or into a field. People would inevitably abuse such a judgement and could legally throw cuttings from trees and grass into a random field or onto the street...they're biodegradable remember. That might seem a bit unrealistic but the only thing that stops people doing things like that is the rule of law not their own sense of morality.

Those in charge of a country have an important thing to consider when making laws;

Lowest common denominator--cater to them.

It doesn't mean that.

Would you think it was appropriate to fine him 100,000 pounds and imprison him for 5 years? Course not. that's stupid. So you'd have to agree that there is such a thing a proportionality. In which case you'd have to agree that it's personally reasonable to let someone chuck and apple core and not say it's comparable to throwing out a bag of rubbish or the exxon valdez.

Now if we had a chronic problem with apple cores. If there were mountains of them and they were causing a huge hazard, then yep, throw the book (or core) at him.


Then again, i'm looking at how much time I've spent arguing about the proportional response to throwing an apple core out a window and realised that I should have something, anything better to do on a Saturday night.

Witcher

hurpederp wrote: »

That is an utterly ridiculous sentence.

Was the person who charged him an arsehole or just an idiot? Surely the person administering the fine has some sort of personal discretion over the situation.

I see you considered the wider issues involved with the case:pac:

The Radiator

At least it werent a bananee

syklops

zenno wrote: »

There is a very big difference from an apple falling from a tree or thrown out compared to the disposal of the body of a dog which can decay and inflict a disease, but i suppose the humble apple-core is compared to this ?. Look, if you want to be politically correct go ahead but i just don't see the connection.

Do you want a discussion or do you want to fling insults?

A fox dies in a hedgegrow, there are various insects and small animals that benefit from it and it is bio-degradeable. So what is wrong with me dumping a dogs body into a hedge?

Boombastic

Blay wrote: »

What about 2 apple cores? A bag of them?

Saying an apple core is fine means one can argue..why the leftovers of the chicken you had for dinner isn't ok to throw out on the street or into a field. People would inevitably abuse such a judgement and could legally throw cuttings from trees and grass into a random field or onto the street...they're biodegradable remember. That might seem a bit unrealistic but the only thing that stops people doing things like that is the rule of law not their own sense of morality.

I think we all accept there's no damage an apple core is going to do in that ditch, the judgement had to ignore that it was an apple and would rot and view it as any other piece of litter.

Those in charge of a country have an important thing to consider when making laws;

Lowest common denominator--cater to them.

when they start prosecuting those who let their dogs sh1t on pavements we'll talk. Dead animals are not good for the water in the ditches or those that drink it

Witcher

Boombastic wrote: »

when they start prosecuting those who let their dogs sh1t on pavements we'll talk. Dead animals are not good for the water in the ditches or those that drink it

How many people drink ditch water?:pac: Maybe down in Cork or such they do but up here in the Pale we live to a higher standard:pac: