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ADOT Has Hotline To Turn In Highway Litterbugs

If you’ve ever felt helpless while watching someone toss trash out a car window, the Arizona Department of Transportation is urging you to do something about it. ADOT and the nonprofit Keep Arizona Beautiful have a hotline for people who’d like to anonymously turn in highway litterbugs.

ADOT spokesperson Caroline Carpenter said when a license plate number is reported to the Arizona Litter Hotline, the offender can expect a few things in the mail from the agency.

“The person will get a free litter bag. They’re going to get a letter that explains how trashing Arizona’s roadways negatively affects Arizona, and how it can be dangerous and cause crashes,” Carpenter said. “They’ll also get a reminder that fines can go up to $500.”

But Carpenter said people will not be turned into authorities.

“So, really, it’s just a reminder to the person who may have thrown something out the window without thinking that other people are paying attention, and it’s a reminder to them that they can be fined, that it is important to keep Arizona highways clean," Carpenter said. "But the most important thing is that it can prevent a crash."

Carpenter said Arizona paid more than $6 million last year to clean state highways. The hotline’s number is 877-3LITTER.

Stina Sieg was a senior field correspondent at KJZZ from 2013 to 2018.