Following the thread about texting whilst driving, I was just wondering what your opinions were on smoking whilst driving.
Should people be allowed to smoke whilst driving, or do you think it should be banned?
Also, I think it'd be interesting to see if there is a difference between smokers and non smokers opinion, so if possible can you state whether you smoke or not. (Don't know how to set up a poll!!)
Okaaaaay...... Debate!!
[I DID A POLL - *Celebrates!*]
Last edited by Alone and Scared : 04-09-2009 at 08:13 PM.
Reason: [Added a poll!]
-“And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to bloom.” Anais Nin-
Allie, Mutt, Great Grandma, Hope and Humbug. I love you and miss you all. xx
You aren't allowed to eat whilst driving, you aren't allowed to drink whilst driving, but you are allowed to light and smoke a cigarette.
1) - It's a potential fire hazard.
2) - People drop them out the window - there is a risk of a car with a petrol leak going over that cigarette and there being a fire/explosion.
3) - Dropping them onto themselves and causing a fire to start within the car.
4) - Ash......!
5) - It takes one hand to smoke, which means driving with one hand - which is why you aren't allowed to eat......
There are more - but I'll stop there!
-“And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to bloom.” Anais Nin-
Allie, Mutt, Great Grandma, Hope and Humbug. I love you and miss you all. xx
No, I don't smoke - but I don't think it should be banned, because on long road trips they would have to keep pulling over to have a smoke, and the trip would take longer.
And are you not allowed to eat or drink when driving? Oops.
I think that really, although there are hazards involved, it will take an awful lot to ban it. Banning it will just piss people off, and really, I think it'd be far, far more powerful to teach people about potential effects of smoking whilst driving - similar to the advert on the other thread about texting and driving. I think that education is far more powerful than banning something (but then, I'm trusting people to be intelligent :P).
Plus, I hate getting into a car when the person has obviously been smoking in there. Not a nice smell :P
I'm a smoker and i will say yes it should be banned. The most dangerous times of smoking while driving are when sparking up and putting out of the cig, both of which will take the drivers attention off the road and it only takes that split second to cause an accident.
You could go down the lines of smokers have rights to but then what about those who end up in a life threatening accident at the hands of someone trying to spark up?
I won't smoke in my car when i pass my test for other reasons but i think as a safety issue others shouldn't either.
It depends experienced driving whilst smoking you are. I think it would be safer to flick the ash out the window rather than use the ashtray but then, my mum has been driving since she was about 20 (she's 52 now) and smoking since she was 14. So she's been used to doing both at the same time for decades, using the ashtray. She used to drive on motorways, roundabouts etc (until I banned smoking in the car as I gave up) whilst smoking, no problem. She's crashed before but never due to smoking.
When smoking you can still use both hands on the steering wheel and if a heavy smoker went without and got ratty and aggressive due to not being able to smoke on a long journey the aggression shown through their driving and road rage etc could be worse than if they kept their nicotine levels steady.
When smoking you can still use both hands on the steering wheel and if a heavy smoker went without and got ratty and aggressive due to not being able to smoke on a long journey the aggression shown through their driving and road rage etc could be worse than if they kept their nicotine levels steady.
But an alcoholic would get tremors if they hadn't had a drink and a heroin addict gets the rattles when no drug is in their system, shall we allow them to have a drink or score a hit whilst they drive? If addicts are not safe on the roads due to withdrawal effects experienced through not using substances surely they shouldn't be driving full stop, not that they should be allowed to use drugs whilst driving because they can't go without a cigarette.
I don't think smoking and driving should be allowed at all. I beleive there was movements to ban smoking in cars with children in it which goes some of the way. But I don't think anyone should be allowed to,it just seems unsafe to me.
But an alcoholic would get tremors if they hadn't had a drink and a heroin addict gets the rattles when no drug is in their system, shall we allow them to have a drink or score a hit whilst they drive? If addicts are not safe on the roads due to withdrawal effects experienced through not using substances surely they shouldn't be driving full stop, not that they should be allowed to use drugs whilst driving because they can't go without a cigarette.
I don't think smoking and driving should be allowed at all. I beleive there was movements to ban smoking in cars with children in it which goes some of the way. But I don't think anyone should be allowed to,it just seems unsafe to me.
I think if you are a heroin addict or alcoholic you are a lot more generally mentally unstable, too unstable to have a driving license.
I think that it should be banned, pretty much for the reasons other people have mentioned above. But then there's the idea that the car is a private vehicle and people are allowed to smoke if they want to whilst on their own private property. Also the fact that it would be quite difficult to enforce. There's a law that you're not allowed to use your mobile phone whilst driving, but I've seen plenty of people who do and have never been stopped for it. Some of these laws are just unenforceable.
Over here it's illegal to smoke in the car if there are persons under the age of 18 in there. With 2 weeks of that law being passed there were over 40 tickets issued for people smoking with children in the car under the age of 3! Ugh.
I am a non smoker. And I HATE it when people flick their ash out the window. In the past week i've had ash in my car 3 different times from people smoking. It really pisses me off.
Smoking in cars should be banned.
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
Over here it's illegal to smoke in the car if there are persons under the age of 18 in there. With 2 weeks of that law being passed there were over 40 tickets issued for people smoking with children in the car under the age of 3! Ugh.
I am a non smoker. And I HATE it when people flick their ash out the window. In the past week i've had ash in my car 3 different times from people smoking. It really pisses me off.
Smoking in cars should be banned.
That's good that tickets are being issued there. I know that smoking is currently allowed in cars in the UK, but using your mobile phone (as I said before) isn't. Yet I haven't seen or heard of a single person who has been fined (or whatever they do) for using them in cars.
I know this is thinking out of the box, but it's not illegal to do the bloody macarena when you're driving and that would cause a hazard as you wouldn't be able to physically control the car properly.
I wish people would just use their common sense more, if you're confident enough that you can do both at once safely, do - if you're not - don't. Then we wouldn't need all these laws.
Mobiles though I'm totally against being used by drivers because as I said in another thread you could get some alarming news and swerve off the road (or words to the effect.)
I am a non smoker. And I HATE it when people flick their ash out the window. In the past week i've had ash in my car 3 different times from people smoking. It really pisses me off.
Smoking in cars should be banned.
But people who smoke in the street could accidentally get ash on you, especially if it's windy.
If it gets strict enough we'll end up like Singapore.
{I'm a non smoker but as long as you aren't subjecting someone to passive smoking I don't care where you smoke, as long as I don't have to inhale it}
I know this is thinking out of the box, but it's not illegal to do the bloody macarena when you're driving and that would cause a hazard as you wouldn't be able to physically control the car properly.
when i didnt smoke id let anyone eles who wanted to smoke.. have a cigertee.. even after i gave them up.. i dont smoke in the car, when im headn out with someone on with me, if they dont smoke then neither do i. id never smoke with a child in the car, i think thats wrong.. it is wrong.. or a person who dosnt smoke.. im aiming to give them up as sonn as.. cus my smoking recently is all out of control. i used to smoke around 15 a day.. im not kiddn.. this last while.. somedays im smoking over 20 yesterday over 40.. and teo weeks ago.. i smoked 60 i couldnt belive it.. and was shocked when i realised.. now i know i have to stop.. but its been crazy.. there has been sudden tragadies with friends around me latly, and i get stressed out in side.. i tune out.. as in go away.. and stay quite.. but workn on changing that.
Laughter is a direct route to the soul. It broadens your perspective, keeps you healthy, and makes an unbearable situation alot easier to deal with.
I voted yes and I am a smoker.
Well, I'm not really a smoker like that, I wouldn't have to stop a car to smoke or anything, I don't smoke anywhere near enough for that.
But I just think it is a risk.
And also, it would stop children having to sit in smoky cars.
But people who smoke in the street could accidentally get ash on you, especially if it's windy.
If it gets strict enough we'll end up like Singapore.
{I'm a non smoker but as long as you aren't subjecting someone to passive smoking I don't care where you smoke, as long as I don't have to inhale it}
Honestly... I would hope that people have the common courtesy to watch what they're doing when it's windy and they're smoking. But I avoid smokers when i'm walking... I can't do that when i'm driving >.<
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
Honestly... I would hope that people have the common courtesy to watch what they're doing when it's windy and they're smoking. But I avoid smokers when i'm walking... I can't do that when i'm driving >.<
i think in an ideal world, smoking should be banned for drivers, but not passengers (i dont have a driving license =p)
although.. im not entirely sure how i feel about it. when Gem and I smoke in the car, i light her fag for her and put it out for her so that shes not distracted from the road.
