Smoking drivers risk prosecution

[Nick VR4]

WTF

Motorists who smoke at the wheel could be prosecuted under a new rule in the latest edition of the Highway Code. Smoking drivers would be charged if it is thought they were driving without due care and attention.
Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick said drivers should not be distracted by other activities behind the wheel.
The first update of the Highway Code for eight years, which is 42 pages longer and has 29 more rules, includes a new safety code for novice drivers.
'Lighting up'
Mr Fitzpatrick told BBC News: "What it says is that drivers should remember they have to concentrate and they shouldn't be distracted either by passengers, by loud music, by reading a map, or using a mobile phone or by smoking.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7017543.stm

[Nevman]

So they should ban getting passangers, stereo, and smoking.

That's stupid, what are they paid for!!!

[stuartturbo]

but how many have had a close call due to
fiddling with the radio
dropping a rock from the end of ciggie

both have caused some one to hit a car i have been a passenger in but just try and prove it.
the radio my mother in law watched him fiddling and the look up too late to realise

but there is bigger issues to start with just the poor standard of driving middle laners tailgators etc
old people that cannot see the end of the bonnet doing 45mph in the middle lane

[bradc]

I think it is a good thing, the government should be trying to outlaw smoking in as many situations as possible so that it becomes harder and harder to smoke so that more people give up on it.

[Nevman]

Surely they could make smoking illegal at all! It would not be giving up if people are FORCED to do that. I think they go too far.
I think that is my and my only decision whether I do want to smoke or not.
And surely there are more important issues to road safety than smoking in the car. But for them it is easier to FORCE people to stop smoking than do something themselves for safety on the roads.

[Nutter_John]

Sorry But this is not about smoking this is about the Gov to be a big brither nany state that likes to pick on the easy targets .

Catch a thief or a mugger cost them money
Catch a person smoking whilst driving , gives them money

No way will this country ever afford to force people to stop smoking , the revenues from smokers is over 8bn in taxes , smokers and smoking related illnesses cost the NHS 2bn per year - where the remaining 6bn

[Nevman]

Precisely!!!

[Throbbe]

Smoking drivers would be charged if it is thought they were driving without due care and attention.

Perfectly legal to smoke, unless it causes you to drive without due care and attention. Don't see any problem with that, and no change to the previous position. Just lazy journalism, again.

[djb160]

Im all for making people smoke in smokers areas so the rest of us don't have to breath around that crap. But then Im a fascist at heart, so Im not so bothered by the fact that we're all goverened by police states like America, England, Oz and NZ to name a few.

[Brunty]

Just lazy journalism, again.

You've hit the nail on the head - it's the plague of the 21st century!

[pitslayer]

i believe that its upto a person to have there own right to do what they want, within the law.
i also think that the smoking ban is utter rubbish aswell, i think the smoking ban should be put into effect, but it should be up to the pub,club,restaurant,work place wether to ban smoking or not. in work, theres only 3 people who dont smoke.
2 sit in the office all day, one works on his own, like everyone else, we all have our own vans. yet its illegal to smoke in them..yet we all the smokers have our own vans, and the non smokers dont use them, the public doesnt comeinto our vans either, stupid. you dont need to take 2 hands off the wheel to light up, and if you do then you pull over and light up. lets look at this, mobile phones drivng illegal, fully support that, but how many idiots do you see pulling over in the most stupidest places ever to answer there phone(i saw one driver block the entrance and exit to a fire station earlier to answer there phone) whats to say smokers will start doing this, pull over randomly just to smoke a ciggie?


lets think about this thow seriously, how many things in a car can we turn on and off that should be banned because they cause distratctions for a split second of time
aircon
radios
windscreen wipers
indicators
lights
changing gear
looking at the speedo
opening a window
all these cause distractions. this government is full of wasters, and politicaly correct nannys, we can look after ourselves
if its our choice to smoke so be it
if its our choice to drink so be it
if its our choice to eat junk food so be it, why cant they just leave us alone we would probably do a better job than the goverment is doing now.

and like john says, where has that 6bn gone? it seems this country is good at loosing billions. olympics were supposed to cost 2bn, now its 8 or 12bn? how can you not calculate that amount of money, how can we all off a sudden need 6-10bn more than first thought?

[Brunty]

- where the remaining 6bn

Smoking shelters outside NHS buildings? Suscription nicorette patches?

[DefeXion]

They will never outlaw smoking because the government gets a huge cut out of cigarette sales don't they? like road tax or something.

[snickells]

I'd just like to see smokers not throwing their buts out the window. Don't care if they smoke and drive as it might just kill them off quicker, and yes, I am an ex-smoker.

[ANTHONY]

just shoot em................yes i'm also an ex smoker

[Nevman]

i believe that its upto a person to have there own right to do what they want, within the law.
i also think that the smoking ban is utter rubbish aswell, i think the smoking ban should be put into effect, but it should be up to the pub,club,restaurant,work place wether to ban smoking or not. in work, theres only 3 people who dont smoke.
2 sit in the office all day, one works on his own, like everyone else, we all have our own vans. yet its illegal to smoke in them..yet we all the smokers have our own vans, and the non smokers dont use them, the public doesnt comeinto our vans either, stupid. you dont need to take 2 hands off the wheel to light up, and if you do then you pull over and light up. lets look at this, mobile phones drivng illegal, fully support that, but how many idiots do you see pulling over in the most stupidest places ever to answer there phone(i saw one driver block the entrance and exit to a fire station earlier to answer there phone) whats to say smokers will start doing this, pull over randomly just to smoke a ciggie?


lets think about this thow seriously, how many things in a car can we turn on and off that should be banned because they cause distratctions for a split second of time
aircon
radios
windscreen wipers
indicators
lights
changing gear
looking at the speedo
opening a window
all these cause distractions. this government is full of wasters, and politicaly correct nannys, we can look after ourselves
if its our choice to smoke so be it
if its our choice to drink so be it
if its our choice to eat junk food so be it, why cant they just leave us alone we would probably do a better job than the goverment is doing now.

and like john says, where has that 6bn gone? it seems this country is good at loosing billions. olympics were supposed to cost 2bn, now its 8 or 12bn? how can you not calculate that amount of money, how can we all off a sudden need 6-10bn more than first thought?

Can't agree more mate. You got the point.
If someone doesn't like me smoking, they don't have to be near me. I always move away from non-smokers if I want to smoke. And if they don't like me smoking in MY car, they can just walk. C U later. As the matter of fact, I am trying not too smoke if non smokers are with me in my car but it's only my courtesy.

[Crickle]

Respect to the smokers to don't smoke near us non smokers and big respect to the anti smokers like me who hate the smell of smoke haha!

As for the nanny state, OMG, this country is ridiculous. Someone sent me this in an email and its so true.. My apologies if i seem like I'm hijacking, not at all what i am trying to do.:iloveyou:

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE

1940's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a tin, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking .

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a van - loose - was always great fun.

We drank water from the garden hosepipe and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cakes, white bread and real butter and drank pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because......

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.



No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem .

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no text messaging, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!


We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents .

We played with worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.


Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out any eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Local teams had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned

HOW TO
DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.

and while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.


Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

PS -The BIG type is because your eyes are shot at your age!!

[bradc]

I still drink water out of a hose - did it on the weekend while washing the purple car :)

[Kenneth]

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE

1940's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a tin, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.


:inquisiti
Yep, congrats on the current obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer statistics.

[snickells]

lol, that's a great point Kenneth.