The ‘smoking gun’

In 2011, it was suggested that smoking in a car with children might be outlawed in Ireland, owing to the dangers of second-hand smoke.

This does not go far enough, and doesn’t encompass the other dangers of smoking while driving.

If you text and take or make a call on a mobile phone, you will be penalised with penalty points on your licence, because your eyes are distracted from the road, and your hands are off the wheel.

Picture a smoker on a motorway, or on a hazardous country road. They lean to pick up their packet of cigarettes, struggle with the plastic and lid, pull out a cigarette and light it up, while travelling at 80 or 100 kilometres an hour.

They then hold it to their mouth, take a drag, flail their arm toward the window, tip it out, take a drag, tip it out. This distracts the driver from the road, and occupies his/her hand. This is as dangerous as talking on the phone, and it highlights the real danger of smoking while driving, not just the long-term hazard of second-hand smoke for passengers.

When laws surrounding this issue are introduced, penalties should be in place for the act of smoking, and not just for the health risk.

Justin Kelly

Edenderry

Co Offaly