MalloryKeaton

I don't know if it can be enforced, but I think it's a good idea to ban smoking while driving. Non-smokers don't want to inhale the awful smoke from cigarettes. Just as smokers believe they have a right to smoke non-smokes have a right to not have to be subjected to the smoke. I know if I'm in a car I don't want to inhale the smoke from someone who is smoking. I don't think children should be subjected to cigarette smoke that their parents or other adults are smoking in the car while driving.

New Jersey to Stop Smoking While Driving

Associated Press

Monday, July 25, 2005

Trenton, N.J. - Ashtrays have been disappearing in cars like fins on Cadillacs, and so could smoking while driving in New Jersey, under a measure introduced in the Legislature.

Although the measure faces long odds, it still has smokers incensed and arguing it's a Big Brother intrusion that threatens to take away one of the few places they can enjoy their habit. "The day a politician wants to tell me I can't smoke in my car, that's the day he takes over my lease payments," said John Cito, a financial planner from Hackensack with a taste for $20 US cigars.

Those cigars, pipes and cigarettes would become no-nos for drivers. Offenders would be stung with a fine of up to $250, under the measure, whose sponsor said it's designed more to improve highway safety than protect health.

Some states, including New Jersey, have considered putting the brakes on smoking while children are in the car. But none have gone for an outright ban on smoking while driving, according to Washington, D.C.-based Action on Smoking and Health, the country's oldest anti-tobacco organization.

Smokers, feeling like easy targets, say enough already. They argue they've been forced outside office buildings, run off the grounds of public facilities, and asked to pony up more in per-pack excise taxes when states feel a budget squeeze.

"With smoking, it's becoming increasingly fashionable to target legislation or prohibitions," said George Koodray, a member of the Metropolitan Cigar Society, a 100-strong group that meets in Paterson for dinner and a smoke.

Assemblyman John McKeon, a tobacco opponent whose father died of emphysema, sponsored the legislation. He cites a AAA-sponsored study on driver distractions in which the automobile association found that of 32,000 accidents linked to distraction, one per cent were related to smoking.

The measure, co-sponsored by Assemblywoman Lorretta Weinberg, a fellow Democrat, was introduced last month just before legislators' summer break. It faces some improbable odds for passing.

Some legislators may fear the bill is frivolous compared with more pressing issues like taxes, said political analyst David Rebovich.

And there's this to consider: Traffic safety groups acknowledge motorists now widely ignore the state's year-old law against using hand-held cellphones, so why would smoking be any different?

Mitchell Sklar, of the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, said police departments may balk at enforcing such a law. "In general, we'd rather not try to incrementally look at every single behaviour and make those a violation," he said.

Source: Toronto Sun

- Jen -

i sort of see the point when having kids in the car, but i dont see why an adult cant smoke in their own car, it isnt affecting anyone else

TheAngel

I agree that with kids in the car, they shouldn't do it. I mean, those kids are probably exposed to enough second-hand smoke in their homes, they should be allowed to escape that when in a small, enclosed area. But when adults are driving alone, even though I don't personally think smoking is a good idea, they should be allowed to smoke. I mean, they're not hurting anyone but themselves.

-Kelly-

Smoking in the car? hell no.

LMS

My issue with smoking while driving, is less about the effects of passive smoking and more about the potential danger the driver might be causing on the roads. I have never tried smoking and driving at the same time, but I would imagine that like talking on a mobile phone while driving, causes the driver to focus less on the road, and to have slower reflexes when reacting to potential dangers.

TheAngel

I agree with that, but until there is some type of proof, unless there already is, they probably won't be able to push that side of the argument. Unless they have numbers somewhere saying; "this many people were involved in accidents," that they won't have enough of a case to push it.

pacifierrocks

well, i don't think that if you have kids in the car you should smoke in the car. i hated it when my dad used to do that, but if i'm driving by myself i don't really see a problem with it. if i'm with someone else, in my own car, who doesn't like it then i just won't do it out of consideration. and i wouldn't ever smoke in a non-smokers car. but to ban it? i don't think they should.

Ice Queen follower

ya know, i think if the person wants to give them self cancer more for it! people know the risks...if you light up you know eventually your gonna die somehow...haha. i know this, and im a smoker. its a nasty habit. so these laws are becoming crazy. next they might not let us wear colors anymore!!

i dont smoke with the kids in the car, i dont even smoke in the house when the kids are in there. if im with a non smoker i dont even light up. because im that nice.

so this whole ban while driving is a bunch of crock.

mAru buratti

ohhh c'monn, give me a break! nowadays smoking is banned in pubs, restaurants, public buildings--- and now you want to ban it in carS? what's next? no more smoking at home?
and i don't believe it increases the risks of having a car accident. i mean, it doesn't requiere a lot of focus. does it?

maru

mh67511

I think it's terrible when people smoke in the car with their kids, however, if you ban smoking because it could be a potential hazard, what else? Putting on makeup? Eating? Shaving? I have seen women putting on eyeliner, people shaving, etc. To me that's far more dangerous than smoking.

You know, we learned in Healthy Lifestyles that smokers actually help our Social Security problem, beacuse so many die early and never get benefits.

WalkingOnSunshine

The thing that bugs me about people smoking while driving is the way they throw out their cigarettes without regard for the people behind them. I was sitting in traffic the other day, and this guy a few cars in front of me throws his cigarette out the window and it hit the car behind him. That is what bugs me the most. I think they shouldn't be throwing the things out the window in the first place, but that just might be me.

Marissa

I agree. And smoking while driving doesn't really decrease your reaction time, I don't think...
I just think that a car is private property, and yous hould be able to do in it as you please, at least where smoking is concerned. But then again, I'm also one of those people who thinks you should be allowed to smoke in smoking bars...

LMS

True, true. There isn't any evidence to support that. But logically, if you're doing something at the same time as driving, I'd imagine that you would be concentrating less on the driving than you would if you are solely driving which would make you more vulnerable to accidents.

To be honest, I know a lot of smokers but none of them smoke while they drive (while I do know people who talk on their mobiles and drive). So I don't really see it as a big issue. Certainly not one that needs legislation.

barbeegurl00

I think it's horrible for parents to subject their kids to their smoke, and to other people around them. But honestly, it's their business and I think banning it is wrong and takes away rights that shouldn't be taken away. Because then it would come to banning smoking in your own house, or something. It just seems too controlling for me. I can understand if it's a public place, but in privacy, it's unfair.

mh67511

I do have to add, I did smoke for a while and I'd get a pretty strong headrush my first couple of drags. I always liked to close my eyes and relax my head. Probably depends on how "addicted" you are. But nicotine does affect your body and it does so very quickly, not sure exaclty HOW but I know it does...ok a lot of help that was