Motoring is a pastime that can be as therapeutic (think cruising the open road as the sun goes down etc) as it can be infuriating (think London congestion charge, or being stuck behind a tractor). Either way, your fellow motorists behaviour and etiquette on the road is instrumental in how much or little you enjoy getting from A to B. Bad driving aside, one thing I've never been able to understand is the act of fly tipping.

For the uninitiated- and I hope you are- fly tipping is the action of drive-by littering. You drive to an area of outstanding natural beauty, and unfurl the filthy contents of your boot or back seat into the unspoilt environment. I'm not alone in my disgust for fly tippers, according to a recent AA survey, more than 60% of drivers in the UK would support penalties for those caught fly tipping.

This isn't even the strongest reaction, as many as 94% of people said that roadside litter gave a bad impression of Britain, these people even agreed that fly tipping spoiled local communities. Of the people surveyed by the AA, 75% said that they thought that fly tipping is a 'serious problem'.

Only 8% admitted to having fly tipped before, and people between the ages of 18 to 24 were found to be the worst offenders.

"Almost 90% of drivers get angry when other drivers litter. Most drivers are adamant they are not the cause of litter themselves- with only 8% admitting 'litter guilt'," says Edmund King, AA president. "Whoever is to blame, there is no excuse for being a roadside litter lout whose actions can cause a danger to other road users and also to those who have to clear up after them."

The degree of fly tipping has become so serious, that it costs UK taxpayers on average £40m a year according to the Countryside Alliance. It is difficult to know where to vent your anger towards this bizarre cult of litter-bugs. Equally baffling is the thinking behind fly tipping. There are a multitude of waste disposal sites that are free or inexpensive to use, which do not put a blot on the landscape. The mind boggles.