UK Considers Banning In Car Smoking

A ban on smoking while you drive could soon be the latest law for motorists to contend with. According to a story in the Observer at the weekend, the Local Authority Road Safety Officers' Association is calling for a ban in an attempt to ‘cut the number of crashes’.

The Department of Health has that it would seriously consider a ban, as are, apparently, the authorities in Germany, Australia and America. The move was backed by anti-smoking campaigners but has drawn criticism from others as an attack on personal freedom. As of 1st July, England will join the rest of the UK in introducing a ban on smoking in enclosed public places and the workplace.

The association claims that drivers are in danger when they take their hands off the wheel to find, light and smoke cigarettes, especially if a lit cigarette or ash falls in the car or is blown back through the window. The organisation, which represents 180 of Britain's 200 local roads authorities, fears that once people who drive are stopped from lighting up in other places from 1 July, they will smoke more while in their own cars. It is aiming to meet transport officials within weeks to ask them to pass the ban.

vonbeeler - 5/14/2007 4:09:49 PM

+1 Boost

One more reason I love my 03 Merc s500. It has 3 lighters and 3 ash trays.

nvme - 5/14/2007 12:15:05 PM

+2 Boost

this, if ever it happens, is properly scandalous... I mean what next? soon you won't be able to talk to the person sitting next to you while driving; and maybe even not listen to the radio... properly scandalous, unbearable personal freedom persecussion!

jeffy210 - 5/14/2007 12:39:19 PM

+4 Boost

Buh? Okay seriously, as much as I do abhor smoking and wouldn't mind seeing it banned in public places, this is in your own PRIVATE car. That's like saying you can't smoke in your house!

What a person wishes to do in the confines of their private spaces (home, car, etc) is up to them. Seriously, this is nothing more than attempting to legislate morals through the guise of public safety.

GT3RennSport - 5/14/2007 1:38:49 PM

+2 Boost

Amen to that

Rupert - 5/14/2007 3:16:02 PM

+3 Boost

They stopped you using your phone in your car...a cigarette is far worse, more fiddly and dangerous (hot ash on lap?). And of course the fact that smoking kills you doesn't help.
"What a person wishes to do in the confines of their private spaces (home, car, etc) is up to them."
That argument is often brought up, yet no one seems to mind that drugs are banned everywhere. Using your argument I could say I am entitled to take some heroin because it's my house. Maybe I'm also entitled to beat children and torture animals, because it's my house.
The fact is, your "private" act of smoking in your car will affect an awful lot of people if you crash because of it.
If it were up to me cigarettes would be banned totally, they cause far more health risks than many banned drugs. For example, the UK Science & Technology Committee rated ecstasy lower risk than for alcohol and tobacco. Nobody dies as a direct result of either cannabis or ecstasy (people die of dehydration or hyperhydration), whereas cigarettes are a direct cause of many cancers and ulcers. But yet, cigarettes aren't banned.
But this is a car site, so enough with the drug law debating.

Carboy - 5/14/2007 3:16:29 PM

+1 Boost

But how about the children and passengers in your car, I'm 11 and turning 12 next Wednesday and hate when my dad smokes. This can stop other people from inhaling secondhand smoke.

S4cabriofoxone - 5/14/2007 10:22:50 PM

+1 Boost

Happy birthday...?

EnnNorak - 5/14/2007 1:05:47 PM

+3 Boost

I'm a non-smoker and nobody smokes in my residence or in my car. The problem I have with smoke goes beyond the obvious health hazard. Smoke gets into the upholstery and the lingering stink is very difficult to eradicate. Regulations by safety nazis ain't gonna stop lo-lifes from smoking while they drive. When I think about it, it's better that smokers puff while they drive as it relaxes them and reduces their stress and allows them to concentrate more on the road.

WeAreMad - 5/14/2007 1:51:15 PM

+3 Boost

dont care if they smoke or not, what pisses me off the most when is that they through the butts out the window usually hitting the car in the next lane. wtf! FREAK'N RUDE!

supermoto - 5/14/2007 2:16:57 PM

+2 Boost

These laws are going a bit too far. Somewhere out there is going to be a governed 75mph top speed!

Audi4Life - 5/14/2007 5:17:01 PM

+2 Boost

how are they planning on doing that?

Rupert - 5/14/2007 6:26:45 PM

+1 Boost

By changing the law.

Alec - 5/14/2007 6:34:43 PM

+2 Boost

The law against hand held cell phones was great to the people. Yet in reality no one seems to give a dam. I still see people talking on thier cell phones as if that law never passed. Yes people have gotten an ear piece to resolve it, and its the fastest way of communication but now this comes up? I agree with Jeffy210, what you do in your car is your buisness. If they wanted people to stop smoking while driving, how about stop selling it all together? It benefits to health MAJORLY!

no1listensanyway - 5/14/2007 7:15:17 PM

+2 Boost

I have mixed feelings about a ban like this. Because if did smoke, I would want to be able to do so in my own vehicle.

S4cabriofoxone - 5/14/2007 10:25:26 PM

+1 Boost

I despise smokers and their disgusting habits, but this is taking it too far. What you do in your car is your business. I have not noticed many cigarette-related accidents.

But then again, I haven't looked into the roots of most accidents, either.

sulev - 5/15/2007 7:24:38 AM

+1 Boost

Anyone knows the stats or any data to back up this logic?