Head to head: Smoking and driving ban

Safety campaigners in the United Kingdom are calling on government officials to ban smoking while behind the wheel. Supporters of the proposal say that smoking behind the wheel should be considered an offence, and believe a ban on smoking while driving will significantly lower the number of road accidents in the UK. Critics on the other hand, state that legislation revolving around smoking is spiraling out of control and soon enough smokers will have no options aside from quitting, to sustain their habit.

Simon Ettinghausen, from the Local Authority Road Safety Association, stated that "Driving is quite a complicated task which requires the driver to give their full attention to the road. Anything which distracts from that in any way is a risk." Ettinghausen also stated that he is not against smoking, rather he is against smoking and driving as the combination creates a whole new situation for those involved.

On the other hand, Simon Clark, of the Pro-Smoking organization Forest stated, "Is it really a danger?...There needs to be evidence that it is dangerous. The anti-smoking lobby have jumped on this and said 'oh yes we must ban smoking in cars'. They want to make it more difficult for people to smoke." Clark has been a vocal opponent of the anti-smoking legislation in the United Kingdom for a while now.

Clark's argument seems completely futile to me, as the government does not at all need to produce results to strengthen their legislature. Simply put, if they want to pass a bill, especially a bill regarding a controversial subject such as smoking, they can do so. Today it seems all signs are pointing to the fact that doing anything aside from watching the road while driving is dangerous, so why should the government have any trouble passing a bill that relates directly to public safety? England in particular has shown a dedication to reducing their number of smokers, specifically the younger generation (bar-goers), so this bill seems to push even further down this road. While I do tend to agree with Etinghausen, I also agree that people should have their own prerogative when choosing what habits they do and do not follow, but should their habits prove to harm others (second-hand smoke), they should be eliminated.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6653327.stm