How would you feel if the government told you that you couldn’t smoke in your own car? Perhaps you’d endorse the idea that public health officials were trying to make it harder for people to maintain a habit that increases their risk of developing lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease and a host of other problems. Maybe you’d rejoice that you’d never again be forced to carpool to a meeting with a chain-smoking colleague. You might even breathe a sigh of relief for all the children of smokers who would be able to ride to school, soccer practice and piano lessons without being forced to inhale clouds of secondhand smoke.
And some of you – smokers or not – might be more than a tad annoyed at the prospect of Big Brother dictating what you can and cannot do in the privacy of your own vehicle.
No law forbidding all smoking in cars is on the horizon in the U.S. (where a good many people get worked up about proposals to encourage healthy eating by imposing so-called fat taxes on soda, fried foods and the like). But drivers in the United Kingdom may be restricted from lighting up behind the wheel – if the country’s doctors have their way.
A report released Wednesday from the British Medical Assn.’s Board of Science calls on governments in the U.K. to impose a ban on smoking in vehicles as part of its overall effort to “achieve a tobacco-free society by 2035.” Over there, it is already against the law to smoke in buses, taxis and other public vehicles. Extending those rules to private vehicles could be done in one of three ways, the BMA suggests:
The ban could apply only to cars carrying children.
The ban could apply to any car with a passenger of any age.
The ban could apply to all vehicles at all times. (This is the option favored by the doctors, in part because it would be simplest to understand and enforce, they say.)
Why do they care? One of the primary reasons is to cut down on people’s exposure to secondhand smoke, which is especially concentrated inside a vehicle. “Tobacco smoke contains 4,000 known chemicals, 69 of which are known or probable carcinogens,” according to the 19-page report. Experts estimate that 23 children and 4,000 adults die in Britain every year because of the health effects of secondhand smoke.
A secondary concern is that fiddling with a cigarette is a dangerous distraction for drivers. Police in Britain are already empowered to write tickets for drivers if smoking is preventing them from driving safely.
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5 Responses
It is very important that the police concentrate on cracking down on people smoking in their car so they won’t go around interfering with hard-working muggers and burglars.
A car should be as private as one’s home. While I loathe smoking myself, I believe people should have their right to make their own decisions regarding their health. I don’t think smoking should be done around children. I also don’t like when people smoke at the entrance to a non smoking establishment because anyone passing through there will have to breathe in that smoke. But, still one’s car is almost like one’s castle.
As an ex-smoker I can tell you that smoking while driving is dangerous and distracting and should be banned. I cannot tell you that number of times ashes,sparks, or even lit cigarettes fell onto and under the seat, and on my clothing while driving. This cause me to frantically fumble around while driving and try to find it before it started a fire in the car. Although smoking is a right, it can and should be restricted or banned where it endangers others…
Why is it not the same thing as talking on a cell phone? #2, the thing is that it is not just their health that we are talking about! As #3 described, it can become a distration and eventually cause you to crash. Someone once rearended my car and used her smoking as an excuse!!! So yes I think it should be banned!!!
Just because something might be risky or dangerous is not a reason to ban or regulate Iris rather live in an “unsafe” and free society than a safe oppressive one