No Smoking in the Car

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

Doctors recommend a ban on smoking in cars

This seems like a no-brainer. Aside from the toxic atmosphere created inside the car, it can't be a good idea to be messing about with lighters etc. rather than keeping eyes on the road.

why dont they just fucking ban it and have done.

i'm not a smoker but if i was what harm is there in smoking in my own car?

your link is to age uk ironically

Probably a good idea. I haven't been in a car with a smoker for years but remember doing it as a kid, God it was foul.

I wonder if they have a time-scale for banning smoking, maybe there's a plan to phase it out within a couple of generations?

I bought my car therefore it belongs to me. If I choose to smoke 14 fags at once while having a stripper perform on the back seat I will.

I don't smoke in the car that the kids go in - there would be no room for the stripper.

Tbh if anyone in this day and age is daft enough to be a smoker, your car and house are exactly where you should be allowed to smoke. Your property, your private space, your choice to do to yourself and those in your house or car. Pretty skanky if the rest of your family are in the car too, particularly those not old enough to have a choice in the matter, but honestly, the message about smoking has been so widely trumpeted for decades; certainly anyone of an age with dependent children would have known the health risks themselves from a young age. So this is one area where I think the gov should butt out (see what I did there!) . The info is all out there in the public domain, and its up to people to choose whether to smoke in their home and car.

How could they enforce this ?

I agree with not smoking in cars when there are children in it.

That link takes me to a page about power of attorney though.

I suppose they would try and enforce it a bit like the mobile phone thing,usual.
Well,if these bans are going to be more frequent,then we need a reduction in Tobacco Tax,seeing as there are restrictions on it's use.

Doctors propose in-car smoking ban Correct link!!!

Why only when children are in it?!??

I guess the thinking about children is they don't have a choice about being in the car (in response to Sara). But you're right- smoking is equally skanky to be around when you're an adult

I would quite happily ban smoking altogether. Together with excessive purchases of booze. I think this announcement is an excellent thing as it will make it even harder for smokers to pretend that they are indulging in a benign activity. I saw a baby recently who stank of smoke. She had just been in the car with mum and grandmum - both smokers. The effect on her baby lungs is horrible and tantamount to child neglect imo.

I see people smoking in their car more and more these days and wonder how it could be enforced. Every street in my town would be blocked by police cars stopping driving smokers. I'm more concerned about the group of mums who stand right outside the school gate each morning smoking - surely there must be a ban on smoking within a certain radius around schools?

I remember everyone saying ' how will it be enforced' when seatbelts became compulsory.... It just evolves, like with using mobiles. You always get one or two of course, but 'bans' do work

I agree there should be a ban on smoking in cars with children inside. I think some countries already do (Canada springs to mind for some reason).

Not sure about banning it full stop though.

When there's children in the car - ban it. Lots of countries already do. They don't have a choice about being in the car with the smoker.

If fiddling about with cigarettes causes / contributes to an accident, then include it in the "blame", same as for other things. I'm pretty sure the law already covers this, same as any other distraction while you're driving.

Apart from that - I'd say leave them to it. It's one of the few places left where people can smoke. Unless you're going to just ban it altogether, then making it difficult for people to do it in their own space is just nannying, and not likely to work anyway.

deep down i know this really is a good idea, but as a non smoker who regularly inhales other people's smoke on the street when walking past doorways with peopel clusterested outside i secretly wouldn't like it, as even more smokers would be on the street next to me smoking!
i agree that with children in the car, or in cars that children will travel in, it is very irresponsible.

Why not ban smoking while pregnant or while around babies/children full stop? All the mums smoking outside the school gate have kids in prams or toddlers.

So under 18's then.... They are children still, yet can smoke at 16!

When the Government buys my car for me, then they can tell me what to do when I am inside it...until then they can fuck right off.

If they ban it on safety grounds then I want to see it enforced...and if they enforce it then they must enforce a ban on changing car radio stations, eating, having fighting children in the car, drinking coffee, scratching your nose and picking your arse.

By smoking in your car, whilst driving, how can you be in full control of the vehicle? Both hands need to be available at all times

Would you pass your test with a stick/cig/whatever wedged between your fingers?

From what i understand from the news,it is not a driving/safety issue,but a health issue brought by the BMA regarding smoking in confined spaces. But if the smoker is the only one in the car,it is taking away his/her personal choice/civil liberty. And as smokers' pay well over the odds for their treatment in tobacco tax,this is certainly a breech of rights.

Both my hands are available at all times.

Letting go of the wheel to drag on a cigarette takes no more time than changing gear, and is no more dangerous.