Canadutch
A while back I was in the car with Xander and as we passed a car on the highway I looked over and saw a 20-something girl in her car. I watched as she tried to hold the wheel, hold her cigarette, shift gears and take a drink of her fanta all at the same time and I wondered why there aren’t rules about these things too.
You always hear the dangers of drinking and driving, and while some people still do it, it’s not nearly as common as it once was. The latest thing is cars and mobile phones. It’s against the law here to drive while using your mobile, and rightly so I think. It’s distracting and people don’t pay attention.
What I don’t get though, is why it’s not against the law for people to smoke and drive. I’m sure smokers are going to get their backs up at even the thought of not being able to smoke while they drive, but seriously… isn’t it dangerous?
Ok, so you can probably pay better attention while smoking and driving than if you were using your phone and driving but if you drop your phone you can just call the person you were talking to back. If you drop a cigarette, you gotta find it… especially if it lands in your lap.
I wonder if there are any statistics anywhere that show how many people have gotten in accidents because they’ve dropped their cigarette while driving. Perhaps it’s not as common as I’d imagine, and I’m sure it’s easier in North America where you really only NEED one hand to drive anyway. Unlike here in Europe where mostly everyone drives a standard.
Plus, cars that are smoked in smell TERRIBLE (as do the smokers, quite often)… not that it has anything to do with road safety though, I’m just saying.
Cool story. Having worked on second hand smoke, I’m going to try and get some regulation passed against smoking while driving within my village caucus. We already have the cell phone ban…
Why smoke at all ^^.
But still, I totally see your point B. I often drink and drive at the same time tho, never really thought of it that ways before (and no, I dont mean alcohol when I say drinking and driving ^^)
Hi! Great blog. Discovered it thru Blogexplosion’s Battle of the Blogs. Great perspective on my own country. I’ll keep it bookmarked and I’ll visit it whenever I can.
I nearly set myself on fire one time when I was commuting from Edinburgh to Glasgow. It was pitch dark and I saw the reflection of the lit cigarette in the windscreen after I dropped it. In those days, driving a standard and smoking went together.
My German friend drives a minivan, smokes, AND talks on her mobile at the same time. I have to admit, though, she is an excellent driver.
When I had my truck, I was a smoker then, and I did smoke and was able to shift gears. I merely held the cigarette in my fingers while steering, and that solved that. but yes, there might have been times when i was taking a drag and shifted at the same time.
I think smoking/driving is a good enough distraction that the driving suffers, although probably not as bad as phones like you said.
But yeah, I think if you made something like that illegal, in the US at least, it would cause an uproar.
Of course, not all states have enforced the no phone law yet either.
I totally agree. I always say that driving requires more attention than most people give it. It frustrates me to no end to see drivers using their Blackberrys on the freeway, which is totally common here.