well, i think i'll leave this hear,as personal insults aren't needed. As sad and little (6ft) man i am, i can at least discuss things without getting all upset and start throwing insults about. Shame really.

Its my car and ill smoke if i want to.

My fag sits over my ash tray at all times and is not a distraction anymore than a back seat passenger trying to have a conversation with me while driving.
Leave us smokers alone

I've had no damage to my car, but tell me, would you be happy with a lit cigarette being flicked onto your bonnet by someone in front of you?

Not a problem in the grand scheme of things? Well to put it that way any issue on Earth is not a problem in the grand scheme of things so let's just ignore insignificant anti social behaviour :)

I haven't said where I stand on the issue of smoking in cars but I'm fairly sure that littering intentionally from a vehicle in motion has been an offence for a while. The fact that 99.9% of cars made in the last 30 years have had ashtrays fitted as standard says to me the driver is either lazy or inconsiderate when not using them.

Not going off topic here, but I'd rather have someones used cig hitting my windscreen than the quarter full bottle of coke that hit mine today. The clown. I nearly messed myself. What the hell was he thinking off, throwing a bottle out of the window. Granted it was plastic, but it still made one hell of a bang :mad:

Reminds me of a programme I saw once that interviewed motorway workers. One said he has had bottles of p1ss thrown at him!

They must have been blaming him for the hold ups :lol1:

i have had 80 quids worth of waterproofs trashed on a bike by a person throwing out a cig which landed on my lap- admittedly in traffic which allowed me to catch up with the idiot and throw it back in to the back seat area.He didnt want to buy me new waterproofs so he ended up buying new a new wing and door plus mirror -I guess what comes around goes around if you dont use your mirrors
cheers richie

OK don't smoke, don't like it, but really cant see the problem with smoking in your own car - if that what you want to do !
Would be a lot better in my eyes if silly busy bod that came up with this idea concentrated on more important issues like generally bad driving, uninsured motorist, no driving licence etc.

Richard

Oops, sorry. Did not think about motorbikers/cyclists. Point taken.

I still think that bottle, if it had hit you in the face would have caused a hell of a lot more damage.

I wasn't trying to cause an arguement or have a go, just getting opinions from those capable of chatting about something, ie you. Tbh, I doubt I'd even notice a lit cigarette hitting the bonnet. As I said, I'm not justifying people doing it, or criticising, just wondering what issues it really causes, generally. You happened to mention it, so I merely asked you for your experiences.

bottle in the face is a crap yourself moment no mistake and would invoke a serious 'discussion' from most bikers. All i ask is discretion<sp> from the driver in front by view of a quick mirror check (unless its a sexy 40 plus blonde of course:D) not too much to ask I hope
cheers richie

Go on then, explain yourself. The point I was trying to make was If I can't talk on my phone (which incidently is using the same hand to head type of action) why can you smoke? At least a sudden gust of wind isn't going to blow the phone from my hand and set my crotch on fire. :D

Jonny (ex smoker and smoker whilst driving)

Speaking on a phone to someone requires concentration - It is entirely different to speaking to someone next to you in a car, and as drivers we all know this. A person in the car with you can react according to the situation - like if a big lorry pulls out in front of you they will STFU.

Smoking, to a smoker (and I say this as an ex smoker, pretty much) takes about as much concentration as breathing. Also, I smoked for about 23 years, and not once did a gust wind manage to knock a fag out of my mouth of hand and into my nads.

Mobile phone useage has nothign to do with taking up a hand, and everything to do with taking concentration (which is why hands free kits are every bit as dangerous but thats another debate)

I believe the Government are considering just that.

Again. Gets my vote :thumb:

Be like prohibition soon.

We'll have illegal smoking dens

Illegal booze ups

Illegal white bread and cheezy wotzit clubs

Illegal salt sessions

(Thing that gets me is the ones who are intent upon telling us what to do with our lives are normally the unhealtheist and grotty specimans of humankind.Look at the politicians!

Don't tell me the chairs of these committees are Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt:) )

Good argument, but I still think smoking is an unnecasary distraction - it does still take a certain amount of concentration. If you had to swerve to miss a kid would you be able to do it aswell with one hand tapping your fag in the ashtray? You could drive better if you werent smoking.

I see where you are coming from, and undoubtably if you scientific test to see what the reaciton and control of a smoker with one had on teh wheel versus a person with two hands at quarter to three/ten to two, then I am sure the two handed person would "win".

But, I don't think there is sufficient evidence that this is a major contribution to accidents, and I think they ASH etc has explicitly refrained from saying "we think you should ban smoking in cars 'cos it causes accidents" because they know they cannot back it up. Instead they have gone for the passive smoking angle.

I mean, having proven links between accidents and smoking in cars would be far more likely to justify a ban than purely on a passive smoking tip.


Moot point for me anyway, as I don't smoke in my car as it ****ing stinks :D

I am an ex smoker and I found that smoking while driving was never a distraction in any way.

I do think it would be unfair to smoke in the car with passengers who don't smoke or with children. Very unpleasdant for others in an enclosed space.

As a biker however, those who are so stupid as to chuck a fagend out of their window when I am following are really a pet dislike. It is very selfish of them and can be alarming for the biker. You have to remember that many bikers use an open face helmet and the thought of a fagend being entangled in your face or neck is not very good I can assure you.

Les

I think there is a definite distinction to be made between a "considerate" smoker and one that doesn't give a monkeys. I like tho think I always used to exercise a bit of intelliegence when smoking around other people, and of course when bikers are behind (I always drive with a big appreciation of bikers, I have lost one too many mates that way)

Well I still smoke ( I know, I know but hey apart abusing traffic wombles, cutting up bendy buses and listening to dodgy music, what the hell else can I do in my car :D ) and I am always mindful of bikers and other cars when I drop my cigarette out the window. Not everyone does it I know, but the argument here is about the continued breakdown and enforcement of our ability to live our own lives in a manner which we see fit.

I think the comment about 'banning all the banning' is spot on. These control freaks who have to justify their existence have to to be understand that enough is enough.

My single biggest hate is people smoking around children, in the car in general is ultimately up to the driver but I genuinly think that smoking in the presence of young children should be against the law. I have a friend who smokes in front of his 2 and 7 year old children in it drives me mental. The trouble is that he has had a very strange and tough life and in the scale of problems he has had to deal with fag smoke has been the least of his issues.

Even worse ban watching the mrs play with herself on long journys to relieve the boredom.

Now that would be a big distraction!!

Why drop it out of the window anyway?

I would hasten to add its smoking whilst driving i don't agree with. To ban smoking in cars is of course different and plain fcuking :cuckoo:

Well apart from sitting in your car in a romantic spot admiring the view, what the hell else do you do in your car apart from drive ???

(although the snails pace I achieved this morning on the way to work, all because of a ****ing traffic womble, meant I was smoking and being stationery at the same time :mad: )

I think the problem here is it is quite difficult to hold a video camera steady and drive at the same time. Dont even ask about proper lighting and audio :Suspiciou :D

Lol. Thats what I meant, to ban smoking in cars would mean you couldn't pull over and have a smoke without getting out. Hence the :cuckoo:

Its all getting too PC for my liking, no freedom any more. what did our fathers and grandfathers fight for?

A whole range of reasons. They didn't fight for lit cigarettes to be flung at them or to be rear ended by an idiot on the phone though.

Exactly!

Les