Ban on smoking while driving

Even though there has been no extensive talk about banning smoking in public places although it endangers the health of others, there is now a push to ban smoking in your car because it sopposedly causes accidents (I wonder what the statistics are).

Seems a little strange to me.

Yahoo News: Smoking Ban

Yeah. My German must be moving to stage 2 (i.e. I could now converse with some ease with a 3 year old) because I undertood that on the news.

Does sound strange. Presumably mobiles in cars are already banned, like in Blighty?

Smoking whilst driving is a bit more risky - mainly because if you drop a cigarette in your lap your first instinct is to try and get rid of it - not always easy if you're tooling down the Autobahn at 120mph.

Exactly. If you ban using a mobile whilst driving then it's only consistent to ban smoking too since, as Jimbo says, it is even more dangerous

@tara

Why does this seem "a little strange" to you?

That is true. If I dropped a burning fag in my crotch on the Autobahn there would be one priority, and it wouldn't be driving.

But surely if it is a statistical risk, it would be banned already in Blighty, which is of course the benchmark of normalcy when trying to gauge what Fritz is up to?

AFAIK it is banned, along with eating & drinking while driving. Its just one of those laws that people dont think about and take for granted its ok and not that serious.

Smoking while driving is not banned in the UK??

Smoking does not require concentration, unlike speaking on a mobile phone. Up the Smokers!!

I don't mind them smoking but why always chuck the end of the cigarette out of the window. People who would normally never consider dropping litter seem more than happy to spread cigarette ends all over the place

Yes. My friend (visiting from New Hampshire) got a hefty 50 € fine for pulling out of a parking lot near the Flughafen while on her mobile phone. The cops were pretty perturbed as she had previously lived in Germany and should obviously know this (she didn't).

She gave them her NH license (which they could not find in their little 'book' and proceeded to tell her there was no such state!). They finally found Mississippi and figured that the driving rules and regs there would be the same?! (She told them to look for Boston or Vermont or something a little closer but they had this 'book' which they had to use that didn't seem to have any states in it!)

In the end they scolded her and then proceeded to say she had the pay the fine right then and there. The reason we were at the airport was to change over our money for Prague so alas we had barely any Euro left. When she told them she didn't have enough they were ballsy enough to look to the passengers and say we should pay it!

Moral: Don't talk and drive.

I smoked for years, and always used to smoke whilst driving - only once did I drop a lit cigarette, but it's certainly risky. One of the other big risks is that you're holding the wheel and a cigarette at the same time - it's difficult to hold that cigarette and perform an emergency lane change all at the same time. It's not as bad as chatting on a phone, but I think that there is a risk involved.

Small aside about smoking and driving:

S Africa is one of the worst places for road accidents. Especially on Bank Holiday weekends on the roads to Durban and Cape Town. Up to 600 deaths over a long weekend is not uncommon.

My mate once slowed down on the Laingsburg stretch, just before Cape Town. Its notoriously dangerous because the Karoo area looks pretty uniform, and tired drivers sometimes fall asleep at the wheel.

So my mate slows down when he sees cars and flashing lights ahead. Some poor motorcyclist was literally smeared all over the tarmac. Cops couldn't work out why he crashed. No other vehicles around, no mechanical failure of burst wheel. Then they removed his helmet.

Turns out he had his visor up as he was going passed a car. THe driver threw a ciggie but out which went through his eye like a hot bullet.

Right, I can see a good opportunity to invent a hands free smoking set then. Bound to be a success, even if only amongst really fucking lazy stoners who cannot be arsed to life the joint to their mouths.

It (smoking ban) sounds good to me, and yes I am a smoker myself. Between the risk to other drivers, the smell it leaves in your car, litter, and the unavoidable lighting or putting out of the cigarette...could be a bit distracting.

On the other hand so are some songs on the radio, women who put on mascara while driving and a few hundred other things...is that self driving car coming on the market soon?

What about typing phone numbers or SMS in your fixed (=legal) mobile?
what about programming your MP3-CD music titles while driving?
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Best would be to forbid to drive while using a car - then theres no risk at all ;-)

Good plan, but then we have no fun in the cars anymore and might as well take the SBahn.

I think passengers are a big distraction to drivers and should be banned.

Particularly children. Plenty of times I fought in the car with my little sister while I was growing up with my mum yelling at us from the front seat - her arm flailing towards the back. We're all so lucky she never crashed and that we're alive today...

Harry, how am I supposed to get D to school?

Personally it is a distraction cause I had an accident once looking for a lighter. Smacked the girl right in the tail, but I don't know what I would do driving around without smoking a ciggy. That's the first thing I do when I get in my car.

If you are doing anything at all whilst driving and it can be proved I am told this would go against you if there was an accident. Mobiles are definitely banned without hands-free - police stop people. But I think there is no point arguing this point, soon we will have robots to drive for us, or robotic cars, and can sit back with a nice glass of wine, plate of pizza and TV. I'm just waiting ...

I agree with Jimbo. Used to be a smoker years ago and smoked in the car, but as a driver Ialways found it very difficult to hold a cigarette and perform gear changes, etc. I definitely think it is dangerous, though not as bad as a Handy.

The government has raised this matter again now:

Germany May Ban Smoking While Driving


In May 2005 it was Peter Danckert of the Social Democrats and Katherina Reiche of the CDU. This time it's the government's commissioner for substance abuse Sabine Baetzing who is proposing such a ban. The old story from the Yahoo! link is no longer there, but here's another link to the May 2005 story: Possible Ban on Smoking and Driving in Germany

So you're ok with a BLT sandwich!

Why could he not just say "eating in general"? Why on earth did he mention fish sandwiches? I mean, it is not as if Germans consume a lot of fish sandwiches, and they are not that readilly available at service stations. Butterbrezen or something may have been more understandable..

And just like driving when using mobiles it wont (in general) be enforced.
You only have to keep your eyes open when drving or walking & see numerous telephoning hand-held.

Exceptions prove the rule but in general it seems that such people only get caught if the mobile (I refuse
to call them HANDY) appears on a speeding photo or in event of an accident.

So this would be just yet another German law that doesnt get enforced (Aktionismus).

I think anything that distracts driving in todays conditions should be avoided, but if you try and draw up a list it will just never end, Driving without due care and attention should cover it all.

If you are seen lighting up and that causes an accident or playing music so louds you cannot hear anything than these things should be part of the charge if it contributes to an accident.

Otherwise we just end up with lists of laws that are impossible to enforce.

Police tried to stop this cigarette-smoking driver, but were ultimately too late ---> Car and truck crash video

Forget bungee jumping, forget skydiving. There is no better adrenelin kick than driving down the autobahn doing 160 kmh with my boss when he feels like a smoke. Root in the right pocket for the ciggies, root in the left pocket, a quick look on the back seat, and the same thing for the lighter. Then having smoked his cigarette he lowers the window a bit to throw his but out and (it had to happen)... The wind blew it back in! Panic!!! He finally found it and put it out but I have to say I was glad to get out of that car.

Slightly OT but post above reminds me of the old chemistry master (teacher) we had at school.

He's get the bunser burner out, attach to gas tap & turn on. Then hed start fumbling in his trouser & jacket pockets for a lighter (AFAIK he didnt smoke). Still looking for this lighter he'd then ask the nearest pupils what they had for lunch (gas roaring out of unlit bunsen...). The class would slowly retreat to back or room. Eventually the lighter was found & the burner ignited. I never knew why the lab wasn't torched up more than once.

ok,

mobile phones
possibly smoking.

but lets be realistic, and not stop there:

ban females trying to put on make-up in traffic, fidgeting with stereo, eating drive thru meals or eating whilst operating, drinking bevies, looking to the left or right when not pertaining to operation (perhaps there is a Flying Saucer landing or a tornado touching down and you want a brief glance)...

anyone got any others?

ban males playing with their balls in traffic, picking their nose, picking their mouth, digging for gold in their nose, making buggers into tiny balls and flicking them off, farting aloud while listening to loud music, burping and wiping their drool on their sleeves, itching their dirty ass crack while driving.

You must hang out with some disgusting blokes...

Smoking while driving is dangerous unless you happen to have beer with you.

You really shouldn't drink and drive. You might hit a bump and spill your drink.

Why is farting and listening to loud music while driving dangerous?

Is it OK to fart when the radio is switched off?

wow, must be british and germans who lack such obvious control and hygiene habits.