Poms ban ciggies in cars -amusing law issue.

[Toaster]

Dave Moore in Drivetalk | 3:33 pm 29 September 2007
The UK got a new Highway Road Code book this week and among the 29 new rules of the road issued by the Department for Transport is one that says that smoking behind the wheel is illegal and dangerous.

Following the establishment of a recent law that has banned smoking in public places, it was thought that a driving smoker would at least have their car as a refuge in which they could draw on a fag or two.

Not any more. Drivers can now be prosecuted for driving without due care and attention if they smoke at the wheel.

Under the new Road Code, having a drag while driving is a breach of the rules of the road and is now classed officially as a ‘distraction’.

According to the book, if a driver crashes their car while smoking they can be charged with driving without due care and attention, which means they can incur a fine of up to NZ$7500, and three to nine penalty points on their licence - the maximum there is 12 points.

Having already banned cellphone use and eating and drinking behind the wheel, the UK authorities’ fag ban was probably a long time coming. After all, what would you rather drop into your lap while driving: a phone, a burger, a latte or a burning cigarette?

Meanwhile, our own authorities struggle with a law to prevent cellphone use while driving and I imagine cigarettes will only get their own ban in New Zealand when some MP or other’s car catches fire.

(I guess smoking while riding is a bit difficult and would burn the ol' ciggie up a tad quick!!!)

[The Stranger]

Not any more. Drivers can now be prosecuted for driving without due care and attention if they smoke at the wheel.

Under the new Road Code, having a drag while driving is a breach of the rules of the road and is now classed officially as a ‘distraction’.


Need distractions be official?
Does being the designated sober driver or carrying kids in the car now carry risk of prosecution?

[jafar]

Need distractions be official?
Does being the designated sober driver or carrying kids in the car now carry risk of prosecution?

If they are going to have a charge of distraction , how do they get on with a leggy blonde in a mini skirt ? I'll bet that would cause way more distraction than smoking behind the wheel:spanking:

[sunhuntin]

my partner smokes on the bike... i got good at dodging ash and sparks when playing pillion, lol.

[davereid]

They better ban police 2-way radios too - same as a cellphone except its not handsfree. So you gotta hold on to it, just like a ciggy, a bottle, or a chick in a short skirt.

[Grahameeboy]

I thought it was illegal here to drag and drive:innocent::bye:

[The Lone Rider]

Reminds me of a joke about when someone pulls out a cig and starts smoking in your car and you are like "HEY! What are you doing!" and they go "Relax.. I have the window open."

Next time you are in their car you unzip and get it out and go for it and when they, quite naturally, go "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" you go "Relax, I have the window open".

[bmz2]

well ,no smoking, no sex while driving, no drinking , no music, no 18 year old blonde with short mini , lets all get dressed in grey and catch buses and we can have a little number on our chests, and micro chip inserted in our asses:spanking::(

[ZeroIndex]

Need distractions be official?
Does being the designated sober driver or carrying kids in the car now carry risk of prosecution?

You mean like all those soccer moms in their SUVs? Please... for the sake of EVERYONES safety... take them off the road :p

[craigs288]

Who are we to criticise? What do we know?

Naturally, it would be up to the Popo to use their awesome and arbitrary powers of (in)discretion to decide whether or not your cigarette was a distraction on any given day, in any given situation.

Haven't met the daily ticket quota? Then a cigarette is a distraction.
Have met the daily ticket quota? Then a cigarette is not a distraction.

Could be jealousy. They don't like to see other people driving around with a 'fag' hanging out of their mouths.

Rant, rant, rant.......

[ManDownUnder]

On one hand it's STUPID. If they're going to do that then they need to ban anything that could be a distraction, ids, advertisements, ciggies, radios, brightly coloured clothing etc etc etc.

On the smoking point - brilliant. Anything to keep smoke out of my life.

[Devil]

On the smoking point - brilliant. Anything to keep smoke out of my life.

Ditto, and the cigarette butts off the road and outta my eyes. You only need to stop at a set of traffic lights to see the disgusting pile of butts on the ground.

[sels1]

On the smoking point - brilliant. Anything to keep smoke out of my life.

And live ciggy butts tossed out of the window that land on the biker behind. One of my pet hates. Have stopped and had a chat to a couple of drivers about that...:bash::angry2:

[devnull]

well ,no smoking, no sex while driving, no drinking , no music, no 18 year old blonde with short mini , lets all get dressed in grey and catch buses and we can have a little number on our chests, and micro chip inserted in our asses:spanking::(

Oooh... man, is Helen gonna be pissed with you.

They weren't gonna announce those policies 'til closer to the election :bleh:

[The Pastor]

actaully i think its now illgal to smoke and drive in nz? law came in 1 or 2 years ago? I don't think its heavily enforced? Or maybe it was a radio hoax, as i heard it on the cock.

[vifferman]

Naturally, it would be up to the Popo to use their awesome and arbitrary powers of (in)discretion to decide whether or not your cigarette was a distraction on any given day, in any given situation.
Well, given that they don't seem to hand out tickets for not using your indicators, failure to keep left, failing to stop at a stop sign / red light, following too close, driving with your driving lights on, having an excessively smoky exhaust, and a myriad of other offences that are not killers like exceeding the speed limit is, I don't think smokers are in any particular danger of being ticketed.

[craigs288]

Especially when texting. If you look closely at people driving in their cars, a very large number seem to spend a lot of time looking down at their laps or near the bottom of their steering wheel, and occasionally look up in time to slam on the brakes or swerve back into their lane.

I have no problem with people smoking in their cars as I consider them to be private property, but if the car is being driven in a public place then the windows should be up so the smoker (and any passengers), their clothes and the car upholstery can soak up all that poisonous second hand shit and not pollute the environment. The smoke they exhale isn't as bad because they have used their lungs to filter out a lot of those carcinogens and toxic solvents used to keep the tobacco burning.

If the government feel they have the right to tell you what you can and can't do in your private property (car) when your private property is in a public environment (New Zealand), how long will it be before they decide they can tell you what you can and can't do in your private property (house) when your private property is in a public environment (New Zealand)?

[swbarnett]

If the government feel they have the right to tell you what you can and can't do in your private property (car) when your private property is in a public environment (New Zealand), how long will it be before they decide they can tell you what you can and can't do in your private property (house) when your private property is in a public environment (New Zealand)?
The thing here is that they're not telling you what you can do while "in" your private property. Smoking in a car parked on the side of the road with the engine off is probably still perfectly legal in the UK. They're telling you what you can do while partaking in an activity that has been deemed a privilege, not a right i.e. driving.

[craigs288]

The thing here is that they're not telling you what you can do while "in" your private property. Smoking in a car parked on the side of the road with the engine off is probably still perfectly legal in the UK. They're telling you what you can do while partaking in an activity that has been deemed a privilege, not a right i.e. driving.

I wonder whether a majority of British people insisted that their government deem driving to be a privilege instead of a right and the government then carried out the peoples wishes, you know, the way a democracy works, majority rule.
Or whether the government decided it was a privilege because it suited them to do so.

[puppykicker]

If the government feel they have the right to tell you what you can and can't do in your private property (car) when your private property is in a public environment (New Zealand), how long will it be before they decide they can tell you what you can and can't do in your private property (house) when your private property is in a public environment (New Zealand)?

uh, drug laws?

funny how people rant and rave about the government taking their freedumb and dont seem to care that theyve been doing it to to lots of us for 100s of years, because the harmless activity some people choose to participate in is not one you enjoy.


then they came for me, and there was noone left to say anything.

[swbarnett]

I wonder whether a majority of British people insisted that their government deem driving to be a privilege instead of a right and the government then carried out the peoples wishes, you know, the way a democracy works, majority rule.
Or whether the government decided it was a privilege because it suited them to do so.
How it got to be a licensable activity is not really relevant. Given that it is, any law governing how you conduct yourself while partaking in said activity is not an infringement of your rights.

This is not to say that I'm in favour of such laws (I don't believe for a second that they actually improve safety). Very few laws today actually achieve anything useful and most should probably be abolished or at least extensively rewritten.

[Coldrider]

Arnie has passed a law in California terminating smoking in cars carrying people under the age of 18, US$100 fine.

[MarkyMark]

actaully i think its now illgal to smoke and drive in nz? law came in 1 or 2 years ago? I don't think its heavily enforced? Or maybe it was a radio hoax, as i heard it on the cock.

Funny, my radio doesn't get that station

[moko]

The penalty for using cellphones at the wheel has also been doubled in the UK.The laws against smoking in the workplce were demed to include the vehicles of truckers,salesmen and delivery drivers when the workplace ban came in,the later cig ban is mainly to clear up any inconsistancy and the usual massive court case claiming victimisation e.t.c.
I know someone who flipped a car when the end of their cigarette dropped into their lap while driving.Main problem here is the lack of traffic cops to enforce the law and complaints about lack of traffic cops on U.K. message boards are as common as complaints here about too many.When I was in N.Z. I saw more traffic cars between Auckland and Hamilton on one journey than I'd seen for months in England.

[BMW]

Ditto, and the cigarette butts off the road and outta my eyes. You only need to stop at a set of traffic lights to see the disgusting pile of butts on the ground.

agreed.
The worst are people that flick it out into you when you are following the!

[James Deuce]

Caught one and threw it back once - it was a workmate's wife. Changed their attitude to hurling cigarettes out the car window and she's since given up.

[Krayy]

In the latest episode of Top Gear, the boys start alluding to this law and essentially accuse The Hamster of having a wank while driving, or as he put it, "The sign said to pull off into the layby" :clap:

[The Pastor]

Funny, my radio doesn't get that station
THE COCK = THE ROCK