Ongoing $407 act on side of Aussie freeway prompts calls for new roadside cameras
Along a major freeway in Melbourne, drivers continue to discard disposable e-cigarette cartridges or vapes, causing them to keep building up on a dividing wall along the West Gate Freeway as motorists head into the city.
One driver took a photo of the stretch of road, sharing it online on Saturday, showing the plastic vapes littered all over the place, prompting some to call for cameras to be installed to catch the drivers responsible for the trend.
"This is gross, clean this up. Fine the people doing this," one commenter said.
"This is deeply infuriating. It's absurd the fact that this amount of people in this country think littering is completely acceptable," another wrote.
Related: Concerning roadside find reveals dangerous trend landing users in hospital
While Melbourne, like cities around the country, has increased the number of cameras monitoring motorists for driving infringements like mobile phone use, some residents believe littering cameras should be installed at the trouble spot.
"Seems like a camera would pay itself back with fines in a week," one person commented.
According to the Environmental Protection Authority of Victoria (EPA), the fine for littering from a vehicle is $407 and $2,035 for a company. However that jumps if the item is considered dangerous, like a lit cigarette, doubling to $814 and $4,070 respectively.
It's been an ongoing issue that authorities have had to deal with over the last couple of years. When previously contacted by Yahoo about the problem on the West Gate Freeway, it was understood The Department of Transport, which oversees the freeway, did not have a specific plan for the vape littering trend and was treating it like regular rubbish build up.
Last year, a parliamentary inquiry in Victoria heard how the plastic e-cigarette devices were creating an increasing environmental problem in the state, as well as posing a serious risk of starting fires when littered.
"Vapes contain lithium-ion batteries, which are combustible and are an ignition source when improperly handled, meaning that they can cause fires when they are not sorted, separated, handled, or stored appropriately," the then CEO of Victoria's EPA, Lee Miezis, told the inquiry.
War against vapes is driving down the number of users
Shifting social norms and concerted government campaigns are slowing the number of young people being hooked on vapes, but Australia isn't out of the woods yet, expert say.
A survey of almost 15,000 14 to 17-year olds found the number of teens vaping fell from 18 to 15 per cent since February 2023.
A report released last month by the Cancer Council's Generation Vape Project found rates of e-cigarettes among 30 to-59-year-olds have halved, while fewer than one-in-five 18 to 24-year-olds used vapes.
Despite being banned, vape shops and tobacconists are leading a rise in black market sales of vapes, Cancer Council chair Alecia Brooks said.
The report found the number of vapes being bought by young people at stores surged to almost 35 per cent of all sales. That is despite laws only allowing vapes to be sold in participating pharmacies where they are sold for the purpose of helping people quit smoking or manage nicotine dependence.
The Australian Border Force and the Therapeutic Goods Administration have also seized almost $500 billion worth of illicit vapes since January 2024.
Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death in Australia and is estimated to kill more than 24,000 Australians each year.
with AAP
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