_ForceD_

This is just an observation and isn't intended to turn into a "things seen on the road while cycling" thread. Although if it does that's OK. But something I've noticed over the past ten years or so is a lot more miniature airline alcohol bottles ("nips") littering the roads along with all the other litter. This seems to coincide with when they went from being made of glass to plastic. Back when they were made of glass they probably broke when they were tossed from cars and you'd only see the broken glass...if even that. But, it also gives more of an indication as to how much alcohol is being consumed on the roadways...where we're riding.

Dan

Chandne

I see that here too, usually on routes where blue collar workers drive through in significant numbers. From a friend who owns a convenience store and a liquor store, I hear that many of them regularly stop by first thing in the morning and right after work. They apparently put the liquor into a soft drink they buy at the store, and while driving home they toss the evidence out. This is a daily occurrence and the regulars are many. It is how they get through their day, according to him. Scary to see so many bottles.

Ballenxj

That's a scary thought to be sure, but texting while driving is pretty bad too. Drivers need to pay attention to driving when behind the wheel, and should certainly not be drinking alcohol!
To drive (pardon the pun) these thoughts home, pull up to any busy four way stop and see who is not paying attention? You might be surprised at how many confused drivers are out there.

mcours2006

If people could toss them out of airplanes I'm sure they would too.

I don't know which is more disturbing, the fact that they're drinking them while driving or that they have so little respect/regard for the environment. I'll go with the former.

Spoonrobot 

It's funny how the discarded alcohol containers change as I ride from urban to rural.

If I'm riding in or near the city it's a lot of single beer cans still in the paper bag or lots of broken glass from fifths of spirits. In the suburbs there's barely anything, maybe an airline-sized bottle or two - mostly energy drink cans. Once I get out into the country it's pretty much only cases of beer full of empties or the occasional handle of vodka.

What I really wonder are who are these people that are throwing up all over the road saturday night/sunday morning? I see the evidence at least a dozen times whenever I ride early sunday morning.

canklecat

Sounds like a huge waste of money on top of the risk of reckless driving. At a buck apiece for, say, a nip of Southern Comfort, they're spending $35 instead of $20-$25 for the whole regular sized bottle.

That's the kind of nickel and diming false economy that one of my cousin's ex-husbands indulged in that drove them into bankruptcy. Instead of buying a carton of cigarettes at payday he'd buy a pack a day at almost double the cost. On top of that the bank charged them per use of the debit card, regardless of the amount. So he was running up their bank charges ten times or more the amount he'd have paid buying a carton at a time. And no matter how often they ran short of money he never learned, never stopped doing it. He convinced himself he was spending less money because it was only a little at a time, bleeding them dry drop by drop.

I see folks at the corner convenience stores doing even worse, paying a dollar apiece for a single cigarette at a time, or one of those wood, paper and poison things they call "cigarillos".

That's the sort of thing that could drive a person to drink.

canklecat

Same here. Some popular semi-rural routes for cycling pass a couple of roadhouse districts, lines of biker bars on one section, then a line of stripper joints a few miles later.

Funny thing, I rarely see broken glass littering the roads near the biker bars. They don't junk up the roads they ride one.

But the stripper joint roadsides are so notoriously littered with broken glass it's marked as a warning on Strava segments.

It's a familiar mentality. Stripper joints tend to incite anger. Guys get drunk and hopeful, nothing ever happens, then they get angry because they overpaid for alcohol and go ripping out of the parking lots throwing glass everywhere.

Fortunately, though, it's mostly aluminum cans. And no wonder some of those cans are still full. Those guys drink terrible beer.

Gaelen

I took a new route out of town for a century and encountered miles upon miles of broken glass. Then there was a stretch on the way back where I passed 3 or 4 empty liqour bottles on the side of the road. I didn't get a flat that day, but, pulled 6 shards put of the back tire the next day after it deflated.
I guess I'm not surprised this happens everywhere, but, wow is that alarming/concerning.

frisky99

I often see those little 5 hour energy bottles that probably also play into the mix.

big chainring 

I have had Lilliputians get tangled in my spokes. They say they are from an island off the coast of France. They seem to consume mass quantities of alcohol. And these small containers are about all they can physically handle. They're not fooling me though. Their conical shaped heads lead me to believe they are aliens for sure.

fietsbob

In Austria And Switzerland they seem to take better care of themselves. And keeping the roads tidy.

rumrunn6

so dumb cuz it's so easy to put the empties in the paper bag they came in & toss the bag in a can when you get out of your car. just now at lunchtime, driving by a gas station, saw someone lighting up a cigarette & throwing the pack wrapper out his window. there's just no accounting for some ppl. how hard is it to pause at the garbage can, remove wrappers & discard properly?

big chainring 

Cuz we're 'mericans. Gonna do what I want when I want and to hell with everyone else. DJ sez so. Dagnabit!

fietsbob

Well if the Cops Stop and search your car , as far as the open container citations sending you thru the legal system, go ..

I doubt the tiny bottles of alcohol ,If found open, will be ignored.

canklecat

FBinNY 

I wonder if drinking drivers have moved to those single shot bottles as a way around the open container laws.

Consider, if you buy a fifth of Vodka you're legal as long as the bottle is sealed. But if you open it to take a drink, you're now illegal (separately from the issue of BAC) in most states. Obviously you can't consume the entire fifth immediately, and disposing it doesn't make sense, so you're vulnerable to a fine for driving with an open container.

However, if you buy 6 1.5oz. bottles, you're legal to transport them, and can drink them one at a time, disposing the empties as you go, and therefore never be exposed to an open container citation.

Note, this has nothing to do with BAC, one may be below 0.08% (legal) and still illegal with an open container in the car. This is important because in many borderline cases, the open container violation may be the only prosecutable offense.

FBinNY 

The open container law is black and white, unopened containers are not illegal, so it doesn't matter that the officer suspects that you may be drinking them.

Simple explanation, which no one has to even offer is that you're planning a party and buy them for people who may want them rather than what you have in your collection of larger bottles.

By example, I drink Tanqueray Gin, but have a friend who has a preference for Sapphire. He doesn't visit often enough to keep a bottle for him, but I keep 3 1.5oz. bottles on hand for him. I also have a friend, who's not much of a drinker, favoring beer and wine, but he has a very well stocked bar with a large selection of 1.5oz. bottles for his friends.

manapua_man

I dunno how bad your area is but I always avoid riding some stretches for a week or two after holidays and rain storms because of all the glass.

italktocats

oh we got a pro here

rydabent

Same here, plus the so called 5 hour energy bottles. So many people are pigs.

trailangel

Add to this the Medical Marijauna plastic pill bottles.

coominya

Well glass weighs a lot more dan so they probably traveled further, out of sight into the long grass.

Camilo

Yea, it's a blue collar problem. We white collar intelligentsia don't drink and drive.

It's not a false economy if it reduces your chance of an open bottle offense. Remember, open bottle applies even if you're not intoxicated. That's the motive, not the purchase cost.

Also, just as a general comment - you probably aren't aware that people often can't afford the economy of buying in bulk (cigarettes, bottle of booze, hell, anything at Sam's Club. That doesn't mean they're stupid, it means they buy what they can afford at the time.

exmechanic89

Eek!

CliffordK

I don't think I've seen any of those little bottles along the road. But, a lot of alcohol related trash, so I've wondered if open container laws actually encourage littering.

With new portable breath tests being available, I would think the open container laws are mostly obsolete now anyway.

Of course, open container laws aren't applying to fast food trash