Was reading a few comments on the BBC site today about this - interested to see where our well balanced membership sit on this issue.

 

My personal viewpoint is: I smoke, I smoke in my car and you'll have to kill me if you want me to stop. I'm more than able to smoke and drive at the same time too (although it does get difficult to hold my can of beer at the same time:laugh:).

 

Seems to me like there is a solid argument for banning smoking in cars with youngsters - I couldn't agree more. I choose to smoke, but I try my best not to impose on others, certainly not vulnerable children. But a blanket ban on smoking in cars? Yeah, good luck with that one.

 

If the government is really hell bent on making us all fit and healthy, there are plenty of other places you could start. Should people be allowed to do things to themselves even if they are unhealthy? Most people drink or smoke, or both. The others are just completely devoid of personality. I often wonder why our brains developed all these receptors to illicit substances if we weren't supposed to take them [typed whilst tightening belt around upper arm].

 

Anyway, where is this going to end?

I dont smoke so no one smokes im my car simple as, they wanna smoke they can either wait get out or walk simples :)

If they really give a toss, they'd ban smoking all together. I smoke, and I'd rather they banned it than all the bullshit. I pay more tax than anyone else, yet I'm already sent out in the cold and rain to actually use these things I've paid for legally and paid extra tax to allow me to do so. Supposedly a police officer can already do you for smoking in a car, under the same law as holding a mobile phone or eating at the wheel. A guy last year was prosecuted for blowing his nose at the traffic lights!

 

My parents were pub landlords a couple of decades ago and we still know people in the trade, I've seen too many pubs fail because of the stupid no smoking ban, which has made smokers drink at home and the non smokers it seems either never went in the pub in the first place, or all their mates were smokers and are no longer there, so they don't go either, well done ya muppets! Same applies to night clubs, who wants to go into a nightclub, where you have to pay to get in, when you have to leave it again every 20 minutes to have a smoke and get more and more drunk as the night air hits you every time?

 

No smoking in company vehicles is another, and taxis, most taxi drivers I know own the vehicle and most smoke! It's the most ridiculous law! No smoking on train station platforms, it's out-****in-side! Bus stops, yes I said bus stops! You can't smoke, in a frickin bus stop, you can smoke a meter away from it, but not if you're stood within it!!!!!!! Either ban it, or stop being so bloody ridiculous. If you made a person of any race or religion other than white christian stand outside a bus stop it's discrimination, same for women, children, old people, etc. but if someone smokes, discrimination laws go out the window!

 

Sorry, but the smoking wars do my bloody head in! We're allowed to drive cars at 70mph in the wet, fog, at night, that are barely road worthy in some cases but still pass an MOT, but I can't smoke in a bus stop!!!

 

/EndRant

want a blood pressure tablet lol

lol nah I just had a smoke and feel much better :lol:

Bloody dictatorship nanny state we have become, the government dont own me, so they can go and shove it. We should be allowed to use our own common sense in how we live our lives. I for one dont give a damn what the government think they can tell me do, if i want to do it i will, i dont smoke around kids or in a restaurant or inside any public building.

 

I work for myself so i dont have to be told by anyone what to do or how to do it, this country is becoming a bigger joke than it already is..

 

We pay these idiots to run our country not the other way round.

This is only doctors suggestions this isnt anything that is being through parliment at present so stop winging you lot lol.

We pay the tax to whinge! God knows it entitles us to do absolutely NOTHING else :D

you ever needed an excuse lol

I like to have one yeah, but if there isn't one available....... :lol:

I personally was glad when the smoking ban came into force in the pubs/clubs etc as I hated it all! Its much better now its not allowed in the public place however me being (so called anti-smoking I guess) believe that banning smoking in cars is ridiculous! Its each to their own in my opinion. Some people wont have smokers in their cars which is fine, but if people choose to smoke in their car thats up to them. I think it shouldnt be allowed where children are involved though by the way! :)

 

The government will try and stop from chewing gum whilst driving next! :(

I think what they may be trying to do is stop some of the many accidents caused by smoking in a car.

 

Smoking in a car is (in my opinion) worse than using a mobile phone, as if you drop a mobile phone, it's not much of a problem, drop a lit cigarette, and it could become a major problem!!! By the way I am an ex smoker so can see both sides of this argument.

 

However I am also an ex paramedic as most of you will know, and two of the main causes of RTC's are a bee or a wasp in a car, or a dropped cigarette (well in the

80's/90's they were anyway), I lost count of the RTC's I attended due to these two factors. Thankfully the bee and wasp problem was a spring/summer thing rather than an all year round thing like smoking.

 

I also attended quite a serious accident that involved a motorcyclist, a non-thinking smoker flicked the last of a lit cigarette out of the window, not realising there was a motorcyclist behind him, it went through the visor appeture of the motorcyclists helmet and started to burn him, causing him to come off the motorcycle he was riding straight into the path of a car, he had rather a nasty knee injury, well, when I say nasty, I mean he had vertually no knee cap left!!! And burns just below his eye and on his neck the two points it lodged for a couple of seconds.

 

I do think they should stop the throwing of lit cigarettes out of car windows.

 

Will be intersting to see what others think on this topic.

Edited November 16, 201114 yr by 300ZX_666

I personally was glad when the smoking ban came into force in the pubs/clubs etc as I hated it all! Its much better now its not allowed in the public place however me being (so called anti-smoking I guess) believe that banning smoking in cars is ridiculous! Its each to their own in my opinion. Some people wont have smokers in their cars which is fine, but if people choose to smoke in their car thats up to them. ................!

 

That pretty much sums up my thoughts too to be honest!

 

Richard:winkiss:

That pretty much sums up my thoughts too to be honest!

 

Richard:winkiss:

 

Must be a 'Richard' thing mate :tt2:

I am a smoker and smoke in my car...in fact I spend most of my life in my car on long journeys (yes I do take my Zed). I agree that it should be each to their own, we are getting dangerously close to breaching human rights now I believe. I think people should be allowed to do what they want as long as it doesn't negatively impact others...right, popping outside for a smoke.

I am a smoker and smoke in my car...in fact I spend most of my life in my car on long journeys (yes I do take my Zed). I agree that it should be each to their own, we are getting dangerously close to breaching human rights now I believe. I think people should be allowed to do what they want as long as it doesn't negatively impact others...right, popping outside for a smoke.

 

100% agree

the govement dont know what there playing with here....half a dozen looters in the summer aint nothing compared to half a million drivers who need a smoke on our roads:crying::crying:

I personally was glad when the smoking ban came into force in the pubs/clubs etc as I hated it all! Its much better now its not allowed in the public place however me being (so called anti-smoking I guess) believe that banning smoking in cars is ridiculous! Its each to their own in my opinion. Some people wont have smokers in their cars which is fine, but if people choose to smoke in their car thats up to them. I think it shouldnt be allowed where children are involved though by the way! :)

 

The government will try and stop from chewing gum whilst driving next! :(

 

That pretty much sums up my thoughts too to be honest!

 

Richard:winkiss:

 

Thing is, do you guys think it's a good thing the pub scene died?

 

The landlords knew what would happen and did a petition which an overwhelming majority of those approached signed (Landlords and publicans ONLY could sign this) to beg the government to allow pubs to choose, rather than enforcing a ban. That way, if the landlord wanted a no smoking pub, he could have one, if not, he didn't have to.

 

That one decision alone, would have saved the pub industry from going under the way it has, so no, I'm sorry, it isn't "better", it was a stupid decision where no one was asked what they wanted and certainly the smokers weren't asked and a petition from the people who's livelyhoods were being destroyed was completely ignored :censored::hang::2guns: :(

Thing is, do you guys think it's a good thing the pub scene died?

 

The landlords knew what would happen and did a petition which an overwhelming majority of those approached signed (Landlords and publicans ONLY could sign this) to beg the government to allow pubs to choose, rather than enforcing a ban. That way, if the landlord wanted a no smoking pub, he could have one, if not, he didn't have to.

 

That one decision alone, would have saved the pub industry from going under the way it has, so no, I'm sorry, it isn't "better", it was a stupid decision where no one was asked what they wanted and certainly the smokers weren't asked and a petition from the people who's livelyhoods were being destroyed was completely ignored :censored::hang::2guns: :(

 

Good question - and to be honest I cannot personally say whether it has had much of a long term effect down here in the Home Counties. Sure there would have been the initial downturn just after the law changed, but that was 4 years ago now and from what I've seen here, the people have long since returned. It's just that smokers go outside to smoke now - and many pubs have built verandas or patios for smokers.

 

Most pubs/restaurants that I go to are no less busy now, than before the ban kicked in. If some have gotten quieter, it's much more recently, therefore due to the recession rather than the smoking ban (as smoking was banned in July 2007). Or, of course, the advent of cheaper booze in supermarkets which also encourages people to drink at home..........

 

Just my opinion of course and based on mine and my friends' thoughts/social activities following the ban. The effects you speak of could also be more regional..... But (personally) I am certainly much happier going out to the pub and not having to scrabble for a seat in a tiny non-smoking area - or coming home feeling wheezy and smelling of cigarettes. Hence I probably go to the pub a lot more now.......!

 

But I do not want to declare war on the forum's smokers, it's up to us all how we live in a free country, so I'll leave it there!

 

Richard:wink:

I am a smoker and smoke in my car...in fact I spend most of my life in my car on long journeys (yes I do take my Zed). I agree that it should be each to their own, we are getting dangerously close to breaching human rights now I believe. I think people should be allowed to do what they want as long as it doesn't negatively impact others...right, popping outside for a smoke.

 

That is 100% correct mate!!

 

Richard:cool2:

Thing is, do you guys think it's a good thing the pub scene died?

 

The landlords knew what would happen and did a petition which an overwhelming majority of those approached signed (Landlords and publicans ONLY could sign this) to beg the government to allow pubs to choose, rather than enforcing a ban. That way, if the landlord wanted a no smoking pub, he could have one, if not, he didn't have to.

 

That one decision alone, would have saved the pub industry from going under the way it has, so no, I'm sorry, it isn't "better", it was a stupid decision where no one was asked what they wanted and certainly the smokers weren't asked and a petition from the people who's livelyhoods were being destroyed was completely ignored :censored::hang::2guns: :(

 

Ok, maybe I should change my phrase....it was better for me personally. I got pissed off if people are smoking and it wafts over me while say eating in a restaurant or pub like it used to be as designated no smoking zones in places where you eat/drink never work however I put up with it because its part of our 'pub' culture I guess to have a few beers, watch the footie and smoke :) I do agree that maybe it could have been done better by the government in the way the law was changed as we are supposed to be a democratic country with freedome to vote etc but I personally am glad the smokers dont smoke in the pubs anymore. :)

Good question - and to be honest I cannot personally say whether it has had much of a long term effect down here in the Home Counties. Sure there would have been the initial downturn just after the law changed, but that was 4 years ago now and from what I've seen here, the people have long since returned. It's just that smokers go outside to smoke now - and many pubs have built verandas or patios for smokers.

 

Most pubs/restaurants that I go to are no less busy now, than before the ban kicked in. If some have gotten quieter, it's much more recently, therefore due to the recession rather than the smoking ban (as smoking was banned in July 2007). Or, of course, the advent of cheaper booze in supermarkets which also encourages people to drink at home..........

 

Just my opinion of course and based on mine and my friends' thoughts/social activities following the ban. The effects you speak of could also be more regional..... But (personally) I am certainly much happier going out to the pub and not having to scrabble for a seat in a tiny non-smoking area - or coming home feeling wheezy and smelling of cigarettes. Hence I probably go to the pub a lot more now.......!

 

But I do not want to declare war on the forum's smokers, it's up to us all how we live in a free country, so I'll leave it there!

 

Richard:wink:

 

That's all very fair Richard, can't disagree with most of that. My best friend does own a restaurant in Surrey though (Where I grew up) and he started noticing a down turn immediately, just because smokers go out less since.

 

As both of us are smokers (Rose and I) we can certainly say we've been going out less, since the ban than we did before it, we did try going out last year a few times, but it just wasn't the same anymore, you have to think about having a fag, think, no I don't want to get cold, get my coat, finish my pint first, etc. etc. etc. so we just don't go.

 

Ok, maybe I should change my phrase....it was better for me personally. I got pissed off if people are smoking and it wafts over me while say eating in a restaurant or pub like it used to be as designated no smoking zones in places where you eat/drink never work however I put up with it because its part of our 'pub' culture I guess to have a few beers, watch the footie and smoke :) I do agree that maybe it could have been done better by the government in the way the law was changed as we are supposed to be a democratic country with freedome to vote etc but I personally am glad the smokers dont smoke in the pubs anymore. :)

 

tbh that's exactly the point a lot of the landlords made and are still making, before the ban, barely anyone complained, because they knew no different, it was part of the pub culture as you say. I worked as a bar manager in a Surrey pub when I was 19, many years before the ban came in, and the sign on the door said simply:

 

The landlord smokes, his wife smokes, the bar staff smoke, the regulars smoke, if you don't like smoke, don't come in!

 

It was respected and we never had a problem, we had a non-smoking section in like an upstairs bit that was all open plan with like a balcony over the main bar, it was actually quite pleasant up there near the ceiling fan :D

why do we smoke anyway? if they brought out something new tomorrow, and said this contains 20000 chemicals, will probally give u cancer and is more addictive than class a drugs .. and it cost 6quid for 20

would u try it?

kev reporting from home with a beer n a fag

Personally, I'm glad that smoking in pubs and restaurants was banned. Even though I smoke, now when I'm drinking I only smoke a fraction as much, which has to be a good thing? Also, even I don't like people smoking when I'm eating. My girlfriend doesn't like me smoking in my house either (even though she smokes, albeit only 4-5 a day), so when she's at home I try and respect her wishes. If I'm by myself (sob) then yes, I smoke in my house.

 

@300ZX_666 - Well, I can't argue with your experience in this field. I've had an incident myself with a cig butt coming back in my car and going down the back of my seat. So I pulled over and got it out, no drama (just a small burn in the seat). The people you are referring to, I'm pretty sure, would be the same group of people that manage to seriously injure themselves while brushing their teeth. The same people who fall down stairs and have bizarre accidents with seemingly completely safe, everyday objects. The problem is however, that these morons also manage to hit other cars, who have nothing to do with their stupidity.

 

As Hollowpoint said, I can't understand why they just don't ban it all together and be done with it. In 5-10 years, no one would care anyway. If I didn't smoke so much (cigarettes cost 1 quid a pack here, LOL), then I could get on with the serious business of stuffing my face with cake and fast food. I'm pretty sure I'll have to have at least one addiction though!

I think smoking is one of those really weird marmite things, like Apple computers, salad, german cars, etc. You either love em or you hate em and your mind is made up about that very early on in life, then you carry it with you. You either were pier pressured into smoking or you weren't. If you were, you're pretty much ****ed unless you're one of those with extra strong will power or never inhaled it enough to get addicted. :(

i smoke in my car and in my lorry(spend 4 days a week living in it) and couldn't give a toss what they say. I will continue to do it.

 

Only person it affects is me and its my choice :tongue::tongue: