Now drivers face ban on smoking at the wheel

[vinny]

hooray for big brother ( :( fingers down throat):

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329838785-102285,00.html

Now drivers face ban on smoking at the wheel

Juliette Jowit and Denis Campbell
Sunday May 13, 2007

Observer
Britain's senior road safety campaigners are calling for a ban on smoking while driving, in an attempt to cut the number of crashes.

The Department of Health said last night that it would seriously consider a ban, which is also being looked at in Germany, Australia and America. The move was backed by anti-smoking campaigners but drew criticism from others as an attack on personal freedom. From 1 July, England will join the rest of the UK by introducing a ban on smoking in enclosed public places and at work.

The Local Authority Road Safety Officers' Association, which represents councils - responsible for the majority of Britain's roads - will meet transport officials within weeks to ask them to pass a ban on smoking at the wheel.

The association claims that drivers are in danger when they take their hands off the wheel to find, light and smoke cigarettes, and are particularly at risk 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.

'Driving is a complicated business, especially with the high volume of traffic motorists have to contend with these days. It's not an area where you can multi-task,' said Simon Ettinghausen, a spokesman for the association. He said the existing law banning the use of hand-held mobile phones in cars showed special bans were more effective than general road-safety legislation.

'In this country, we're libertarians, we like to give people freedoms, but if you are distracted unfortunately your freedom to do these things can affect other people's lives,' he added. Last year there were 3,201 deaths on Britain's roads.

The Department of Health said it was 'looking at how we can get further momentum towards smoking cessation beyond the introduction of the smoking ban in England'.

'We are looking at further proposals and this could be one of them. If the road safety officers put information and evidence before us about this, and explain the case for it, we would study it,' said a spokeswoman.

Amanda Sandford of the campaign group Action on Smoking and Health said: 'We fully support this proposal. Not so long ago it would have seemed inconceivable that we would have a total ban on smoking across the country, but in a few years time people will think it's inconceivable that we allow people to continue to smoke while driving.'

Andrew Lansley, the Conservative shadow Health Secretary, condemned the plan as a denial of citizens' rights to decide how they behave in their own personal space. 'Parliament hasn't accepted the completely anti-libertarian view that people can't do what they like in their own homes and own cars,' he said.

 

[Z...]

well this one actually makes sense

IMO nobody should smoke whilst driving

 

[vinny]

yeah, ok :P

but you can see where it is going: You probably shouldn't smoke whilst making a cheese sandwich for example, or for that matter you probably shouldn't be making cheese sandwiches while you are driving, but having specific legislation to outlaw it ....?

 

[Cyre2067]

well this one actually makes sense

IMO nobody should smoke whilst driving

Are you serious?

I can do it, as can others, since a few can't, why are we punishing everyone? And besides that - when was the last time someone you knew was in an accident due to a ciggarette mishandling? This is almost as lame as the no cell phone laws.

And besides, if you have an accident there's already penalities in place, insurance costs and legal fees, etc. It seems to me they're just clamping down on more freedoms in order to get the populace used to it.

"You can't do this, you can only do this when, this is inappropriate."

"We are your masters, obey."

Edit: I'm gonna go drive and make a cheese sandwich just to prove the point

 

[Miss Isness]

They are trying to protect us? Yeah, right! Will it also become illegal to change the radio station?

 

[Zadius Sky]

They are trying to protect us? Yeah, right! Will it also become illegal to change the radio station?

or sing while driving.

 

[Z...]

sure personal freedoms and all that I agree,
my point was simply that smoking while driving is unecesary and as dangerous as mobile phones

 

[Keit]

And besides that - when was the last time someone you knew was in an accident due to a ciggarette mishandling? This is almost as lame as the no cell phone laws.

Actually, using cell phones while driving IS major safety concern. It may not be so serious if you are driving in a country side, but it is deadly serious if you are driving on a busy highway 120 km/h and suddenly want to make a call (without hands free device) or worse - type an sms. There is no comparison to lighting up a cigarette. But even then - there were cases when people got into accident because they've reached for their soft drink and lost a second of attention.

There is logic in such restrictions, but unfortunately in the case of cigarettes they will use the same excuse on other issues as well. For example, one Britain research determines that if you want to live longer and healthier, you have to keep 2 meters distance from a smoking person who walks on the street. They treat smokers as if they were leprous. Imagine a device in the future that will calculate a distance between you and a smoker, and if you'll come closer, it will scream: "Alarm! Proximity violation!"

 

[robls]

I agree with everyone's logic on the law issue.
But, if you are in heavy traffic, and someone next to you has a cell phone nestled between their shoulder and ear, a cigarette in their other hand, and is glancing down towards the passenger seat, then I have a problem. This situation happens far more often then I can count. People have a hard time multi-tasking, while driving a motor vehicle.
Just my 2-cents.

 

[Zadius Sky]

I agree with everyone's logic on the law issue.
But, if you are in heavy traffic, and someone next to you has a cell phone nestled between their shoulder and ear, a cigarette in their other hand, and is glancing down towards the passenger seat, then I have a problem. This situation happens far more often then I can count. People have a hard time multi-tasking, while driving a motor vehicle.
Just my 2-cents.

Especially when they think their subconscious mind will handle the driving and their conscious mind will handle the conversations on the cell phones (where they are directing their attention on hearing rather than on their surroundings). And, unconscious mind will enjoy the smoking. They think it's no problem. It is a problem when there are unexpected things that would happen and you weren't aware of them (thus accidents). You can also easily be manipulated while being in this state.

 

[henry]

sure personal freedoms and all that I agree,
my point was simply that smoking while driving is unecesary and as dangerous as mobile phones

And what is this based upon? There are studies that demonstrate the added risk of talking on mobile phones. Are there studies that demonstrate the same thing for smoking?

It seems to me that there is little to compare between the two, other than saying in the most general way "you're doing two things at once". The phone demands an intellectual and emotional attention, not to mention the motor activity. Your attention is pulled away from the road in many ways.

Smoking hardly demands any intellectual or emotional involvement. If you know where your cigarettes are and where the lighter is, you can get them without taking your eyes off the road. You can also wait till you hit a stop sign or red light.

So what data do you have to support your statement that smoking is as dangerous as talking on mobile phones above?

As to the comment that it is unnecessary, I think that is simply a judgement call on your part, reflecting your buying in to the anti-smoking propaganda.

Henry

 

[Al Today]

What about Chocolate as a killer? Huh? Imagine a hot summer day. You're driving down a busy road and reach for a piece of that yummie Chocolate. Oh drat... The heat of the day caused the chocolate to melt in your hand, on your fingers... The chocolate gets smeared on the steering wheel... and oh no.!.! something crosses your path ahead. You attempt to swerve and your hands slip, sliding on the steering wheel, because of all that chocolate goo... Doesn't this danger merit exposure too? We need the gubement to protect us against the hazards of eating chocolate while driving... Please excuse my sarcasim, sheesh...

 

[Cyre2067]

And besides that - when was the last time someone you knew was in an accident due to a ciggarette mishandling? This is almost as lame as the no cell phone laws.

Actually, using cell phones while driving IS major safety concern. It may not be so serious if you are driving in a country side, but it is deadly serious if you are driving on a busy highway 120 km/h and suddenly want to make a call (without hands free device) or worse - type an sms. There is no comparison to lighting up a cigarette. But even then - there were cases when people got into accident because they've reached for their soft drink and lost a second of attention.

From my perspective it seems people get into accidents because they weren't capable of dividing their attention appropriately - not because they were making a cell phone call, lighting up, or reaching for something. So in that sense, they're comparable.

For example, if i need to pull over because I'm having a heated or emotional conversation - in the car or on a cellphone - I'm capable of realizing, "Okay, I can't drive AND do this, so I'm gonna pull over." Sure, I've been cut off in traffic by someone on a cellphone who obviously wasn't paying attention, but I don't think "That should be illegal!" I blame the individual's lack of prioritizing his/her awareness, not the object/behavior itself.

The same goes for cigarettes, and has henry mentioned above, we're capable of lighting/smoking with little input from the rest of our brain, it doesn't take priority over driving.

Multitaskin baby, gotta love it.

 

[PopHistorian]

I think the potential laws alluded to in the USA are the consideration by several states first to ban smoking in the car if there is person under eighteen years old in the vehicle. Great reason for police to ask for identifications.

hXXp://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2007/02/05/sc_proposal_no_smoking_in_cars_with_kids/

Of course, it's ridiculous, as no statistics are given to suggest how many "lives will be saved" by such laws. If "saving lives" were really a priority, laws would be very, very different everywhere, OSIT.

 

[Rhansen]

Sure, I've been cut off in traffic by someone on a cellphone who obviously wasn't paying attention, but I don't think "That should be illegal!" I blame the individual's lack of prioritizing his/her awareness, not the object/behavior itself.

Right, it may be tempting to think that way ("should be illegal") but you cannot legislate common sense OSIT.