Caltrans: One In Five Motorists Intentionally Litter

Caltrans says nearly half of all motorists surveyed admitted to littering along the state highway system.

"More surprisingly, nearly one in five California motorists report intentionally dumping something on the side of the freeway," says Gary Chazen with Caltrans. "And these are not just cigarette butts or not just a coke can, which is bad enough in itself. But we're talking about furniture, old tires, refrigerators, mattresses..."

Plus green waste from their yard like lawn clippings, branches or leaves.

Chazen says people are polluting even though they know there's a link between pollution and the environment.

"Eighty-six percent said there's a direct correlation between their pollution and the waterways in California," says Chazen. "We can only guess here on why people know there's a problem yet don't do anything about it. So what we're trying to do is give people enough tips on how they too can help."

Such as not polluting...and plugging leaking car fluids.

Caltrans conducted the survey to measure the awareness, attitudes and behaviors of people when it comes to maintaining clean highways and ultimately the waterways since storm water flushes highway debris and pollutants into the storm drain system which flows into open bodies of water.

Caltrans recently launched a storm water campaign called Protect Every Drop.