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.