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Original poster

bid to ban smoking in cars.

47 replies

hecAteTheirBrains · 07/10/2008 16:16

story here

I think it SHOULD be illegal to smoke in a confined space like a car when a child is there. Passive smoking is dangerous and very unpleasant.

However, I don't see how it's enforceable tbh, and I don't agree with a blanket ban on smoking in cars, if you are on your own, in your own car, then it's up to you, surely?

What next, a ban on smoking in your own home? (maybe if you have kids you should be made to smoke outside though )

Smoking is filthy, dangerous and it is wrong to inflict it on non-smokers, however the government has the option of making it illegal and forfeiting all that cash they make in tax!

  • and I say all this as a (psst, don't tell anyone ) secret smoker.
OP posts:
onager · 07/10/2008 16:45
FioFio · 07/10/2008 16:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

nooOOOoonki · 07/10/2008 21:55

As a smoker (finally an ex one) of 20 years I think that it is truely DISGUSTING when I see people smoke in cars with kids

outside fair enough, but in a car is vile, since scotland had their ban intake in hospital for illnesses related to passive smoking went down by 17% whilst in England (pre-ban) over the same period it only went down 4%.

i saw a newborn in a car last week with both parents smoking with the windows up

2shoeprintsintheblood · 07/10/2008 22:02

if they are going to use the "bad as a mobile " stance
what about the other things that distract you........children for one.
and who is going to police this.
the police who are never seen

BlackPussyCat · 07/10/2008 22:05

The thing that gets me with people smoking whilst driving is (apart from the passive smoking obv) if the driver drops a lit cigarette they then have to jump + squirm about to pick it up/put it out.... hardly in control of the vehicle then, are they?

smartiejake · 07/10/2008 22:09

I have always wondered why it is ok to smoke whilst driving. Surely it's harder to steer with a fag in your hand? What happens if you drop it in your lap while you are driving? ALso why is it ok to throw it out the window when finished? (Actually same when on the street- it is litter.)

Actually thought it was illegal to eat while driving. Seem to remember a story where some woman was prosecuted for driving whilst eating an apple as the police who spotted it said she did not have full attention on the road.

edam · 07/10/2008 22:18

The story's rather confused - head says ASH wants a ban but ASH spokeswoman says they aren't calling for legislation yet but a 'debate'. Yeah, right.

They also claim the cost of smoking related disease has been increasing - odd, since the number of smokers has been going down. And at any rate, however you try to stack the figures, it's only a tiny proportion of the extra taxes smokers pay.

FFS if the government and those in charge of the rest us want to ban smoking I just wish they'd be honest about it and stop fiddling around.

Doubt they really want to lose all those lovely taxes right now, though, given they suddenly need £50bn to bail out irresponsible banks.

LittleBella · 07/10/2008 22:20

I'm in favour. I think it looks naff when people smoke in their cars.

Naffness needs to be stamped out

findtheriver · 07/10/2008 22:27

I'd rather people smoke in their own car or house than in public quite frankly.

edam · 07/10/2008 22:28

Actually, I suppose ASH had to find something new to do now they've got the ban on smoking anywhere under cover on the books. Otherwise they'd all be out of a job. They need to find a new excuse for persecuting smokers!

TheCelestialTeapot · 07/10/2008 22:29

I think that smoking should be banned in the world.

Simplysally · 07/10/2008 22:34

I don't see how it can be enforced - people still drive around with mobiles clamped to their ears and that was made illegal a few years ago to drive and talk on a non-hands free phone. You can even get points on your licence but it's stll done.

Re the distraction argument, that could be said for adverts by the road, your children arguing, a bird flying in front of the car, some eye candy on the pavement, fiddling with a sat nav, getting a cough sweet out of the wrapper....

However I won't let anyone smoke in my car so I'm ahead of any future legislation .

fin54 · 08/10/2008 08:35

If the car is empty and I am in it myself who has the right to say what I can and cannot do in something that is mine, after all I have paid for the car, I drive the car and I put the petrol in it so NO I don't think anyone has the right to say that I can't smoke in it.
It?s a different story if there are children in the car or other people I wouldn?t do it, but if I?m alone then yes I will as its mine so I can do what I like in it.

LittleBella · 08/10/2008 10:28

Even if that means you have slightly less control of the car than you would otherwise have?

I don't think so.

expatinscotland · 08/10/2008 10:31

'Even if that means you have slightly less control of the car than you would otherwise have?'

Okay, then ban eating in the car, too, drinking any liquids in the car as well.

Both distract your attention from the road.

By the same token, NO pets who aren't in carrier crates or belted in in the car - a man trying to control his dog was behind the wheel of the car that struck and very nearly killed author Stephen King.

If we're going to start banning undesirable behaviours, then let's have the balls to go the whole hog.

onager · 08/10/2008 11:00

LittleBella, if you're sure this is the way to go we'll have that radio/CD player out of the car right now. You shouldn't be listening to music and news reports while driving.

We should ban cosmetics even being allowed in the car to avoid the temptation of applying it behind the wheel.

We've covered Children and Pets. What else? Having passengers at all is a distraction because you might talk to them. One person per car from now on.

Anyone caught in charge of a vehicle while suffering from the common cold or cough should lose their licence. Do you know how many accidents are caused by a cough/sneeze at the wrong moment!.

LittleBella · 08/10/2008 11:47

But all those things are already covered by law. Whoever mentioned the woman with the apple, the reason she got a fine was because she was driving around a corner while taking a bite - if she'd just been driving on a straight road, the police wouldn't have stopped her.

As for the dogs, of course they should be restrained - you can get those barriers to stop them being thrown forwards in the event of an accident. And with the radio, again, the police might stop you if you started fiddling with the dial while doing a manoeuvre, but not while you are driving on a straight road with no pedestrians etc. in sight.

If you drop your water or your apple, you carry on looking straight at the road and driving. If you drop your cigarette, that is not really possible. There is a difference between a piece of food which is not on fire in your car, and a little object which is. I just think that by definition, something which is on fire has got to be slightly more dangerous.

LittleBella · 08/10/2008 11:48

Well with colds, you shouldn't be driving if you have a heavy cold. Apparantly it can affect people's reaction times and concentration as much as drink driving if the cold is really bad, and we're all horrified by that, so I don't know why we think colds don't matter.

SaintRiven · 08/10/2008 11:52

I'd like to see them enforce the mobile phone ban before they try anythning else.

VictorianSqualorSquelchNSquirm · 08/10/2008 11:59

I agree it should be banned, at the very least when there is a child in the car.
Animals that are not restrained, ban 'em.
Eating/drinking etc, well they can distract but aren't as serious if dropped.

Also, I think the police should be given much better powers. There should be less paperwork and more emphasis on tackling these laws. It should be as simple as a police officer taking a photo of someone smoking/on the phone and noting the reg number, then a fine being sent through the post.
It's a lot of work for a police officer to stop someone for being on the phone.

onager · 08/10/2008 12:23

So a car is so dangerous that unless we require the driver to be carefully trained, to be in good health (taking licences away from those prone to allergy attacks) and to be undistracted, this heavy chunk of metal and flammable fuel, held on its path by a precarious balance of friction and inertia will plough into pedestrians and crush/burn them to death.

Adding on another rule to avoid distraction whether it be smoking or thinking about the job interview this afternoon might be seen as missing the point. Surely the answer is to begin phasing them out.

I know people will scream that they need them, but we can begin with banning all car journeys that can't be classed as essential. Work only then and only if on a route not covered by public transport.

There is talk of busing children to school and shopping can be delivered so car journeys can be cut back drastically.

Any problem with that? surely no one would want to drive if there was even a small chance of harming others?

It would halve smoking in smoking in cars overnight, it would reduce pollution (those poor childrens lungs!) and help the economy.

SaintRiven · 08/10/2008 12:33

totally agree Onager. Get rid of the nasty semlly poluuting death-mobiles.

LittleBella · 08/10/2008 12:46

well actually a car is bloody dangerous and ought to be treated with respect. more than 300 people every year are killed by cars. Many more are injured and either temporarily or permanently disabled. This costs the whole of society an absolute fortune in emotional and financial damage. We pay for it in insurance costs, as council tax payers for amendments to roads, as taxpyaers for the time of the police, occupational therapists and other NHS staff, social services etc. Most of these accidents are solely due to driver error and most driver error could have been avoided by more care.

I don't know about you, but I really don't think that's an acceptable situation and I'd like it changed. And the first place change takes place, is in people's attitudes. Our attitude tends to be that we're entitled to drive however we like (my car, my rules) and if we're to stop all these unnecessary deaths and injuries, that attitude has got to change IMO.

LittleBella · 08/10/2008 12:47

I'm not in favour of having home delivered shopping. Too many mumsnet threads ranting about them.

SaintRiven · 08/10/2008 12:50

its 3000 Bella. in the UK alone. 44,000 in the US. And hundreds of thousands maimed, injured and disabled.