A topic that often gets my goat and especially now during the hotter weather:
Why is it illegal to use your mobile phone whilst driving, to eat a chocolate bar, to drink from a water bottle, to read a map, perform a sexual act, etc..BUT it is ok to smoke??? WTF is that all about?!?
I am assuming that they all contribute to driving without due care and attention. However, you are still expected to read road signs, directions and police notices whilst driving. Do these not distract you then? A bit like the flash from a GATSO, perhaps, which blinds you just before you rear-end the car in front which has executed an emergency stop in order to avoid getting caught speeding.
If all of the above actions, whilst driving, have been banned, why has smoking (whilst driving)not been banned? Is it because the government extract a HUGE amount of revenue from the sale of cigarettes, or am I just being cynical?
Let's face it, lighting a fag whilst driving is just as distracting as using a phone. One hand on the wheel, mind focused "inside" the car, hot flame jumping around in front of your eyes, the smoke being blown into your eyes because the window is open (so that you an pollute the rest of the environment too). I have never seen a car driver, who is smoking, use the ashtray. They open the window and use the rest of the world as their ashtray. When they have finished their fag it gets flicked out of the window onto the side of the road (grass verge) so that it can start a fire, or into the path of the Motorcyclist who is overtaking (yes it has happend to me several times), or back into the car via the rear window to set fire to the rear seat (poetic justice). Not forgetting of course that smoking has actually been proved to be bad for your health, it kills. Since when has drinking water been unhealthy?
Why is it illegal to use your mobile phone whilst driving, to eat a chocolate bar, to drink from a water bottle, to read a map, perform a sexual act, etc..BUT it is ok to smoke??? WTF is that all about?!?
I am assuming that they all contribute to driving without due care and attention. However, you are still expected to read road signs, directions and police notices whilst driving. Do these not distract you then? A bit like the flash from a GATSO, perhaps, which blinds you just before you rear-end the car in front which has executed an emergency stop in order to avoid getting caught speeding.
If all of the above actions, whilst driving, have been banned, why has smoking (whilst driving)not been banned? Is it because the government extract a HUGE amount of revenue from the sale of cigarettes, or am I just being cynical?
Let's face it, lighting a fag whilst driving is just as distracting as using a phone. One hand on the wheel, mind focused "inside" the car, hot flame jumping around in front of your eyes, the smoke being blown into your eyes because the window is open (so that you an pollute the rest of the environment too). I have never seen a car driver, who is smoking, use the ashtray. They open the window and use the rest of the world as their ashtray. When they have finished their fag it gets flicked out of the window onto the side of the road (grass verge) so that it can start a fire, or into the path of the Motorcyclist who is overtaking (yes it has happend to me several times), or back into the car via the rear window to set fire to the rear seat (poetic justice). Not forgetting of course that smoking has actually been proved to be bad for your health, it kills. Since when has drinking water been unhealthy?