Littering Ticket for rock chipping windshield

[fishnowworknever]

Subd. 4.Dropping object on vehicle.

No person shall drop or hurl any destructive or injurious material or object at or upon any motor vehicle upon any highway or the occupants thereof.

I guess that settles that. What a freakin moron, no surprise because most of them are.

[toughguy]

I would have said "Well I guess I'll see you in court". Make him testify in front of a judge that he gave you a ticket for your tire kicking up a rock.

It would be fun to see how that goes over in court.

+1 You know it wasn't the first time he's pulled something like this. Get him in front of a judge so he knows what kind of deputy he's dealing with next time something like this comes up in his courtroom. What a joke.

[Grum]

I can't recall where I heard this, but you can also be issued a littering ticket if there is a excess amount of snow blowing off your vehicle. I guess there is always a way for a L.E.O. to issue a citation if they really want to. Good luck to you if you fight the ticket, there is always the chance he won't show up in court and then it will be dismissed.

[PurpleFloyd]

Minnesota Statutes

169.42 LITTERING; DROPPING OBJECT ON VEHICLE; MISDEMEANOR.

Subdivision 1.Objects on highway.

No person shall throw, deposit, place, or dump, or cause to be thrown, deposited, placed, or dumped upon any street or highway or upon any public or privately owned land adjacent thereto without the owner's consent any snow, ice, glass bottle, glass, nails, tacks, wire, cans, garbage, swill, papers, ashes, cigarette filters, debris from fireworks, refuse, carcass of any dead animal, offal, trash or rubbish or any other form of offensive matter, or any other substance likely to injure any person, animal, or vehicle upon any such street or highway.

Subd. 2.

MS 1969 [Repealed, Ex1971 c 27 s 49]

Subd. 2.Dropping dangerous object on highway.

Any person who drops, or permits to be dropped or thrown, upon any highway any of the material specified in subdivision 1, shall immediately remove the same or cause it to be removed.

Subd. 3.Removing object; responsibility.

Any person removing a wrecked or damaged vehicle from a highway shall remove any glass or other injurious substance dropped upon the highway from such vehicle.

Subd. 4.Dropping object on vehicle.

No person shall drop or hurl any destructive or injurious material or object at or upon any motor vehicle upon any highway or the occupants thereof.

169.421 CIVIL LIABILITY FOR LITTERING.

Subdivision 1.Finding.

The legislature finds that the cost of removal and disposal of solid waste, including litter, from vehicles is an onerous burden upon the public, and that the criminal law is not always adequate in dealing with the problem. This requires the imposition of civil liability as provided in this section.

Subd. 2.Definition.

For purposes of this section, "owner" as to a vehicle means the owner of the vehicle, but in the case of a leased vehicle means the lessee.

Subd. 3.Civil liability imposed.

If any solid waste, including litter, glass, nails, tacks, wire, cans, bottles, garbage, papers, refuse, trash, cigarette filters, debris from fireworks, or any form of offensive matter is thrown, deposited, placed, or dumped from a vehicle upon any street or highway, public land, or upon private land without the consent of the owner of the land, a violation of this subdivision occurs and civil liability is imposed upon the owner of the vehicle. The driver and passengers riding in a vehicle are constituted as the agents of the owner of the vehicle for purposes of this subdivision. It is a defense to any action brought pursuant to this section that the vehicle was stolen. This section is not applicable to the owner of a vehicle transporting persons for hire or transporting school children.

These are 2 different issues and it all boils down to origin. As a driver you are responsible for securing any items placed in or on your vehicle or a trailer your vehicle is pulling. For instance, I pull a flatbed at work and if I am stopped and for instance there is loose gravel, dirt etc on the flatbed I can be ticketed for having an "Unsecure load" because the loose objects can be thrown from the trailer and do damage. The same thing applies to the back of a pickup truck. If you have something back there that the wind catches and blows out you can get a ticket.

However, in this case if it happened as posted, the debris came from the road and not the vehicle so he had not had possession of said rock and that is the defining difference. Even then it is not a slam dunk. Some years back I was behind a gravel truck and a rock came out of it and hit my windshield and cracked it. I took the plate number and company and gave it to my ins agent and he said basically it would be too hard to prove in court that it was that truck that did it so the car owners ins just covers it.

In order to stick the officer would either have to have video of the boat throwing the stone up and hitting the windshield or he would have to have the stone, corroborating witnesses etc to get a successful conviction. Lots of work for a windshield.

[maros91]

Sounds like the situation could have been easily avoided by not speeding. Not saying what the deputy did was right but the situation could have been avoided. Perhaps the deputy could have called another deputy on duty, the Sheriff or the city or county attorney on the side of the road and asked them what he could cite them for pertaining to the rock.

[ClownColor]

OMG...move this to silly town! How are people analyzing this to death? It's cut and dry...you CAN NOT get a ticket for LITTERING when a rock "flies" up from your tire. Falling off you vehicle may be different but you'll get something probably a little more harsh then littering.

Seriously people.

[mainbutter]

This situation:

If you weren't speeding and getting pulled over, the rock and the windshield would never have met.

This is absolutely the best way to put it, and why YES, many states laws and many courts will hold someone responsible for this exact situation. A "littering" ticket is not what you would be facing if a competent person wanted to get the courts to hold you accountable, but something along the lines of property damage due to negligence is likely what would be appropriate in the eyes of the law.

[HandGunner]

I would have said seriously? well then too bad I didnt kick up a fallen branch to blow through your windshield instead then that would have been worth the fine.

[ozzie]

Sounds like the situation could have been easily avoided by not speeding. Not saying what the deputy did was right but the situation could have been avoided. Perhaps the deputy could have called another deputy on duty, the Sheriff or the city or county attorney on the side of the road and asked them what he could cite them for pertaining to the rock.

Wonder what you do for a living Biff?! haha j/k And I am sure he didn't want to call another collegue as he would have sounded like a jackass to them just as he did when his boss got this call and told him to tear the ticket up...