New Delhi has become the first city worldwide to ban smoking while driving. The latest smoking ban in New Delhi was among a number of new laws introduced to fight bad driving habits in the city. Drivers caught smoking will be fined $32 up to five times before having their licenses revoked. The same rule will apply to anyone using his or her cell phone while driving.
I always find it interesting when smoking is banned for reasons other than the fact that it is straight-up bad for you. Forget how bad it makes your driving skills; shouldn't smoking be banned because it in itself can kill you? Despite the irony of the ban, smoking bans do help everyone breathe better.
So what do you think -- Should smoking be banned in cars in the United States too?
Manoush
Dolce & Gabbana
Prescriptives
No. I'm not a smoker, and I know it's bad for you, but sheesh they gotta smoke somewhere!! A lot of bars near where I live don't even allow smoking.
1i agree w/ ccsugar and i'm not a smoker.
2i'm not a smoker, but i don't believe that smoking should be banned in cars . . . i don't believe that smoking takes as much focus off the road as cell phones do. they are definitely not on par with each other.
i chose 'other,' though, because i think smoking should be banned in MY car. lol. my dad always pulls the 'i'm your father, you should let me smoke in here' bit. but i don't want my car interior smelling like cigarettes!
3Funny, I agree with everyone else that in their own cars, let them suck their cancer sticks. It's one of the few places that they can smoke without bothering other people. However, I do think there should be some sort of law about smoking in cars with children.
4Non-Smoker here also. If you want to smoke in your own car go ahead. Are they just banning it because it's a bad habit? I mean I bite my nails (yes, it probably won't kill me) when I drive, are they going to ban that too?
5I think if they are going to ban smoking while driving they should also ban eating and drinking(non alcoholic) while driving, and heck changing the radio station. We ban and restrict too many things in this country the Alcohol, cigarettes, the easter bunny, santa claus... people should be allowed to make their own descisions, without the governemt dictating when its ok and when its not (as long as it doesn't interfear with the well being of others).
what I DO think is smoking should be banned from say police cars, because I have often seen police smoking in their patrolle cars, and god forbid I ever had to be transported in one, I'm asthmatic... not good.
6I am a non-smoker. I think that the only time that a ban should be allowed is when children are in the car. I always feel so bad for these poor little kids with their parents smoking away, and they have no choice.
7As a smoker, I am totally fine with smoking outside in designated areas, even in cold weather, I accept that as being a part of a more health-conscious world. I was a little upset about bars and clubs banning smoking, but those are public places and I came around to the idea. But in my home or car is my business, unless there are children around. (bear in mind, I smoke outside at my house, we don't want the place smelling)
8Why not? Civil rights are already out the window at this point. (smirk)
In all seriousness, I am for smokers rights, which means I believe we should drop the smoking ban entirely. The amount of harm second-hand smoke causes is negligible. You are all being fed propaganda every day on the matter, especially here in the US.
Before I am attacked for this...
Professor Sir Richard Doll, the first scientist to publish research that suggested a correlation between lung cancer and primary smoking: "The effects of other people smoking in my presence is so small it doesn't worry me."
in March 1998 the World Health Organisation was forced to admit that the results of a seven-year study (the largest of its kind) into the link between passive smoking and lung cancer were not 'statistically significant'. This is because the risk of a non-smoker getting lung cancer has been estimated at 0.01%. According to WHO, non-smokers are subjecting themselves to an increased risk of 16-17% if they consistently breathe other people's tobacco smoke. This may sound alarming, but an increase of 16-17% on 0.01 is so small that, in most people's eyes, it is no risk at all.
In 1992 the American Environmental Protection Agency published a report that was said to demonstrate the link between passive smoking and ill health in non-smokers. In 1996 however a US federal court ruled that the EPA had completely failed to prove its case. It was found not only to have abandoned recognised statistical practice, but to have excluded studies which did not support its pre-determined conclusion, and to have been inconsistent in its classification of environmental tobacco smoke compared with other substances.
More can be found at: http://www.forestonline.org/output/Page1.asp
9I agree with this only when children are also in the car.
10I'm an ex-smoker and I think it SHOULD be banned in cars for a few reasons: 1) it stinks (literally) to be driving behind a smoker 2) where do they throw the butts??? I know I used to just throw them out the window (so bad, I know!) and 3) I see a lot of people smoking in their cars with their kids!!! It's so bad for not only the smoker, but for everyone around them!
11controlledspin... I know what you are saying about the kids in the car thing... but thats a parents choice, and once we start (ha wait no we already have laws dictating parenting but I digress ok) anyway what would be next, banning smoking on the street, because children walk there, banning smoking in the home because children might be there, while it may be for the childs health we shouldn't tell people how to raise their kids, I'm sure they are aware of the consequences of second hand smoke... but they should be free to make that choice, my parents smoked around me when I was a kid, I did not grow up to be a smoker and I have perfectly healthy lungs now
12Yes!! Especially when you have kids in the car. I hate seeing people smoke with their windows closed and kids sitting in the back. Shame on them!
13Ha..I didn't read all of that up there before I posted..
14M155 J4CK13 - How do you explain people who get lung cancer but have never smoked a day in their life? Everyone knows what toxins are in cigarettes, so I find that hard to believe. It may not do a whole lot of damage if you're only around smokers occasionally but some things in small doses can be lethal.
controlledspin - I totally agree with you. It pisses me off so much to see some of my baby cousins having constant respiratory problems and their parents have "no idea" what causes them yet they constantly smoke around them. It makes me think they got hit in the head with the Stupid Stick one too many times.
My mom smoked while she was pregnant with me and both of my parents smoked around me until I was 10. They both quit and I thank God every day for that. I get sick all the time and have so many respiratory problems. My mom knows that deep down she's partially to blame and she feels bad for it.
I'm also allergic to smoke and I get a severe headache whenever I go to a club, bar, or restaurant where people are smoking so this keeps me from doing a lot of things with my friends. It sucks, but I'd rather sit at home or go somewhere where there is no smoke than have some fun with my friends while suffering through a raging migraine.
So yes, I'm all for banning smoking everywhere except for people's cars (ONLY when there are kids in the car) and their houses. I guess they have to have some place to do it.
15how do you explain lung cancer in people who don't smoke... hmm maybe cigarrette smoke is not the only thing that causes lung cancer! gasp how do you explain people who smoke all their lives and never have cancer?
the truth is we don't completely understand cancer, and we shouldn't be banning things, infact we should be more appaled by having more and more of our rights taken away regardless of weather or not they are good for us its a personal choice.
16Nannychica:
I am just presenting the research given on the website. Statistics speak for themselves, as do prestigious medical doctors.
How do I explain a person getting lung cancer despite having never smoked but having been exposed to second-hand smoke? Environmental factors, genetic factors. Or perhaps they are just damn unlucky and with a 0.01% chance of getting lung cancer, they hit the jackpot.
17esk4: Yes but if you smoke around me (maybe not you, but you know what I mean), aren't you now taking away my right to breathe clean air?
This is one of those topics that some people are just never going to see eye-to-eye on...much like politics, gay marriage, and abortion.
18Oh, wait a minute... I just got it. You apparently thought smoking was the only cause of cancer.
19Your right to breathe clean air? So for aesthetic reasons, you dislike cigarette smoke. Which is fine, we all have our preferences.
20I'm allergic to cigarette smoke too. I also have to deal with living in a dorm in which the only way to maintain a comfortable temperature is to have the window open, which inevitably people are always smoking under. I can ask them to move, but they don't have to and they have a right to smoke, as I have the right to close my window, no one forces you to sit in a car with smokers, or stand next to them. They can't smoke inside, so I don't see how smokers smoking in their own cars affects your right to fresh air...
21Uh...no, I know that smoking is NOT the only cause of lung cancer. Sorry if that's how that statement came across.
My dad has a friend who is now dying from lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure. So I'm aware that smoking is not the only cause of lung cancer. But it is the MAIN cause.
A few years ago I had to watch my grandmother die from lung cancer after it spread to her brain. So this is a touchy topic for me as I'm sure it is for most people.
22I don't need the government making these kind of decisions for me.
23************************************************
"Tomorrow is no place to place your better days." Dave Matthews...Don't burn the day
i think that smoking should be COMPLETELY BANNED personally. i cannot think of one legitimate reason its not already except its a cash cow.
and by the way im glad that my hometown banned it in all public places because as a college student lots of my friend work in bars and restaurants and were subjected to MASSIVE amounts of second hand smoke. its not really fair them them to have to go to work in an environment like that that.
24so Ecann are you saying we should just start banning all kinds of things that might be harmfull to people, or just cigarettes? hell while we're at it why not bring back prohibition, alcohol doesn't do much good either...
25That makes no sense whatsoever. If I'm sitting at a bar and I'm just drinking water or a coke and my friend is sitting next to me drinking a beer, that is not going to affect my liver. However if she were smoking, I would be coughing up a lung.
Sorry but that argument makes no sense.
26Scotland is proposing to ban it in all private vehicles. It is already banned in vehicles used for business.
27Let's not stop with cigarettes. Let's ban alcohol, fatty foods, firearms, prescription pills, abortion, and get rid of civil liberties as a whole, so that we can all sit together around a fire singing Kumbaya in praise of our new "safe" society.
Our world has really become 1984 but no one seems to have caught on to it yet.
28m155 I know right it's like people don't even see that our rights are beign taken away one by one, all in the name of being good for us... they seem to forget that the US has already tried to ban something hello people prohibition which didn't really stop anything and was quickly revoked
29Esk4:
There are a few good books out there about the absurdity of the war against tobacco and the governmental propaganda involved: For Your Own Good: The Anti-Smoking Crusade and the Tyranny of Public Health
No one cares enough to realize that their rights are being taken away, and that's a shame.
30People need to stop trying to lump every single thing in the world into one category. Just because something exists in our world doesn't mean people should be allowed to use it.
Cigarettes, with the exception of bringing in money to Big Tobacco and bringing some amount of pleasure to the users, do nothing good for the world. Burning butts and excess smoke contribute to the degradation of our environment. Secondhand smoke has been shown to contribute to health problems (maybe cancer, maybe not, but after a night at a smokey bar, I am hacking up phelgm the entire next day). Not to mention the effects on one's appearance just from being around people who are smoking. And health care costs have sky rocketed as a result of people purposely ruining their own health, and smoking is one of the primary ways people to do that.
And kids have absolutely no control of whether or not they are around their smoking parents, esp in cars, and so some form of regulation is actually a good thing.
I would absolutely love for everyone to every freedom in the world, and while I am sure those of you arguing voraciously against this regulation are smart enough to respect others and know how to act in a civilized world, we have seen time and time again that most people do not. So for the betterment of the country, some things need to be regulated. And since cigarettes are 1, easy to regulate and 2, have very real consequences for other people, I think it's worth while for the government to step in on this one.
Like it or not, because of our financial system, I am paying for your bad habits and you are paying for mine and we are all paying for Paris Hilton's and everyone else in the country's. So we all really do have a say in how things are regulated, even when it seems like we shouldn't.
31I think the point of banning smoking so much is that smoking has a more observable and clear effect on those who are around, but not participating in, smoking. To take something like alcohol or drugs the effect they may have on other people are still real however they don't seem do be as direct as the effects of someone smoking near you. To give quite a meagre example, if someone were coughing and sneezing all over you, you would most likely feel repulsed by it and want them to leave you alone. This is much the same feeling of someone smoking next to you if you do not smoke yourself, except that we are constantly being told by the government and the media how terribly bad for our health smoking is.. and so you end up feeling like it is your right not to be around people smoking, as it is such a health hazard.
32The issue is safety - like talking on a cell phone while you drive - it could be a distraction, I guess. I dont know. I agree that it is an infringement on rights of the individual. I cant imagine that cigarettes are the number one cause of auto accidents...Why don't we ban eating/drinking while driving? Or changing the radio station? It seems those are equally (if not more frequently) responsible for accidents...
Of course, we should enforce littering laws against people who chuck their butts out of car windows.
33I know... I've actually read some of Tyranny of Public Health.... I'm not even a smoker, and like I said before I end up smoking about a pack a night from people smoking outside my window because they can't smoke in their rooms... but I deal with it because I think there are enough restrictions, and hey its my choice to have the window open.
the gov't already tells people how to rais their kids, and pretty much everything else all in the name of "the good of society"...
but even if its bad for me I'd still like the option of smoking if I wanted to.
34actually sara you're right I believe I read somewhere eating while driving, and drinking coffe was more a cause of accidents than smoking...
35Specific distraction % of drivers
Outside person, object, or event 29.4%
Adjusting radio/cassette/CD 11.4%
Other occupant 10.9%
Unknown distraction 8.6%
Moving object in vehicle 4.3%
Other device/object 2.9%
Adjusting vehicle/climate controls 2.8%
Eating and/or drinking 1.7%
Using/dialing cell phone 1.5%
Smoking related 0.9%
Other distractions 25.6%
A study done, taken from FOREST's website.
36The cellphone laws are also ridiculous.
37kscincotta, jahnut, and SaraSmile -- BRAVO!
38nanny I missed this earlier but in you're example of the bar its already illegal to smoke in a bar, but if you are in your friends car you are there by choice and if she decided to smoke you can voice your opinion on wheather or not she should but she should still have the right to do it. And alcohol consumption can hurt others, drunk driving, it can cause aggression, lead to rape ect.
what I'm saying is its already illegal to smoke in any public building, isn't that enough?
39A great many things are responsible for the degradation of our environment. Pollution is everywhere. And second-hand smoke is most likely not as harmful as we are led to believe.
40No one can come up with even ONE good reason why cigarettes are not banned except "ITS 1984!!! CIVIL LIBERTIES DOWN THE TUBES!!!" give me a break seriously.
good thing we do live in America and people are allowed to give themselves chronic disease.
41I just came from vacationing in Puerto Rico and they have a law there whereas you are banned from smoking in the car but only if there is a child of under 13 inside the car. The first fine is 50 and it doubles each time up to 5 and then you lose your license. I think maybe something like that makes sense, kids should not be trapped in cars with second hand smoke. If you are by yourself go ahead and smoke up.
Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strenght
42esk4: Where I live, it's not yet illegal to smoke in bars. I live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and so far just one city has moved forward with banning smoking in restaurants. I can't wait until the others follow suit.
As for your example about my friend's car, yes you're right. Fortunately I only have one friend who smokes and I avoid situations like that by not riding in her car. I don't feel right asking her not to smoke in her own car. So if we're going out to eat together she either takes her own car or she rides with me but doesn't smoke. She knows how it makes my allergies flare up so she respects that and just steps outside of the restaurant to smoke when she feels like it.
43If you are alone, smoke all you want, if others are in your car like young children, it's not ok.
44If there are no children in the car - feel free to destroy your own lungs and heart as much as you want. Just don't fling your butts or ashes out of the window, please.
However, if there are children in the car, smoking in the car should be illegal.
45I love seeing how heated this has gotten, it's amazing to see the division between non-smokers, anti-smokers and smokers. Nobody will be able to ban cigarettes, big tobacco is too powerful, and if I can go into a liquor store and ruin my liver by my own volition, I'd like to be able to enjoy a cigarette as well.
46I'm gonna get a lot of flack for this, but I like smoking . I make no excuses, but I also think it's the smoker's responsibility to make sure that people that don't want to be exposed to the smoke aren't. I check the wind, stand far away, never smoke anywhere but outside (no matter the weather), and deal with the dirty looks from passers-by when I'm out at the smoking area of my building. There is compromise, mostly on our part, but I made my decision and I have to work around the majority in exchange for keeping my bad habit.
StefaPie: You're not going to get any flack from me. Even though I'm on the anti-smoking side, it's nice to see that you're one of the few who are considerate of those who don't smoke.
47As far as that Forest.org group as Homer J Simpson says, "Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!"
What Forest.org website basically is saying is, "You're infringing on our civil rights as smokers..." because you care about the quality of our health and want us to stop this completely pointless addiction for our mutual betterment. It's not about stopping them from dancing or having fun but smoking serves no benefical purpose at all except that you can exercise your right as an individual to destory your health and the health of those around you when you smoke.
Forest.org has a vested interested in maintaining the status quo of allwoing smokers to blow carcinogens into non-smokers lungs. Smoking doesn't improve your health and is not a necessity of life. Many smokers say they hate the habit but yet they continue because they're addicted.
48kscincotta, well-said.
stefapie,that is very considerate of you. If your gonna smoke, be a considerate smoker and understand that not everyone wants your nasty fumes.
I think that when you're by yourself, you should be able to smoke if you so choose. When you are in the company of others, please respect our wishes.
49M155 J4k13, you're right. Lung cancer has other origins than smoking. However, you guys are forgetting the other side effects of smoking, like yellowing of the teeth and fingers, the croakiness of the voice, the pre-mature aging, plus there is the fact that it's a major cut into your budget, esp. when you become a pack-a-dayer.
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