General Chat

I don't believe anything is that important that one has to use a phone while driving, if it is hands free surely it is no different than talking to passengers or listening to the radio.
I just will not answer my phone till I have parked and when I smoked I did not smoke while driving, not because I am goody two shoes but because it just didn't feel right.

The Police have now to stop people from using their phones, not wearing their seatbelts (which with new cars is impossible!) And monitor parents with children not strapped in. Catch cars/drivers with no insurance etc. and stop crime.

I am the only non smoker in my family, I am 60 have not had a cold for many years now.

We expect far too much of our police, much of which is common sense and should not be their job to do.....

While in Barbados last summer we hired a car and was told by the agent there were no drink driving laws to abide by on the Island.

But everywhere we went there were No Smoking signs around.

Well the whole car can be seized and crushed just 'cos the paperwork is out of order, using a mobile phone while driving is a proven menace. Seizure & crushing seems appropriate.

My object all sublime
I shall achieve in time —
To let the punishment fit the crime —
The punishment fit the crime;
And make each prisoner pent
Unwillingly represent
A source of innocent merriment!
Of innocent merriment!

I remain unconvinced that it is for the good of the people but that it is for the money and/or publicity. As for destroying phones I totally disagree with that, where I work it is completely unacceptable to have any recording equipment, some times visitors forget this and genuinely don't realise they still have their phone with them on site and there are detectors everywhere the persons phone is taken and destroyed, why it can't just be checked I do not know.
To many dictatorial people about me thinks.

If people are addicted to anything (and many of us are addictive about something) we will use every argument to justify what we do. I have even heard it about child abuse - I could not believe that two perfectly normal sounding elderly men could agree that abusing children was something the child wanted :-0 :-0 But that was their clear argument.:-(

People use strange and fairly similar arguments to support tobacco addiction. As a reformed smoker, I guess I feel a lot more strongly about it than most. It used to soothe my nerves, I used to love the smell, it was what we did when we met others. But Rollo's experience, Paula's experience and my parents and brother (63, 60 and 58, all smoking related) should tell smokers on here they are killing themselves and possibly those around who they love. And screwing up their eyes and destroying their skin prematurely.

And to smoke in a moving car full of combustibles (eg petrol) on roads where lorries and vans often carry dangerous chemicals and flammable liquids is so criminal and selfish an act that it should have the highest penalties - whether or not children are strapped in the back.

Rollo. What a dreadful experience for your wife I hope she continues to make a full recovery. My husband was an intelligent articulate man who would put forward convincing arguments pro smoking. I repeatedly asked him to stop, but he was his own man and made his own choices. He was diagnosed with lung cancer and lived for eleven weeks. I asked his consultant if this due to smoking, he said yes most definitely. My husband stopped smoking overnight, but sadly it was too late for him.

The argument put forward about the tax gained from cigarettes mean nothing to me, I have heard them all before.

People make their own choices, I hope they don't live to regret them.


RIP Frank 16/5/1947-14/5/2005

Long ago it must be there was no treatment for cancer and as > 70% of the population smoked and had tough physical jobs. They paid in a whole lot of tax and snuffed it before their pension age or if the Treasury was unlucky not long afterwards . The myth that smokers finance the NHS lingers on.

The hard fact is that treating smoking related diseases is ( together with alcohol ) a massive drain on the NHS nowhere near balanced by cigarette taxes. A well known economist friend says the cost of alcohol problems easily exceeds booze taxes. That is why the govt is so exercised about booze and ciggies - it's the numbers. Obesity is of course coming up the inside.

This is what can happen.

My OH liked to chimney and have a stiff drink. One day she found a little dimple on her tongue. She ended up with 1/3 of her tongue cut out, a new bit from a graft of an arm muscle, the arm repaired from the stomach muscle, some lymph removed, lots of teeth removed ( so the surgeon could get at the tongue ), special custom denture, 2 months of feeding via a peg in the stomach and endless pain. While all this was going on I was trying to run a biz and GRU was a welcome diversion. Now she is learning to talk again in three languages.

So saying that the campaign against smoking is "big brother" is mad.
Yes, smoking in the home with kids is going to be a big, big problem.

It is never necessary to smack children. It doesn't work just builds up fear, resentment and subterfuge. Even the Royal Navy eventually worked out that the cat o 9 tails was a bad idea. My father never smacked me and I never smacked my own kids. Kids are like small animals, treat them properly and they will behave themselves of their own accord. Ignore them or be unreasonable and they will remind you they are there! Kids like to push limits just make sure they know where the limits are.

Being nice to others starts with being nice to yourself.
Don't smoke.
<3

Whilst governments are eager to use statistics, they're very selective!!
People in a car, believe it or not, actually breathe in MORE exhaust fumes than pedestrians walking on the pavement.
Fumes from cars are much worse than cigarette smoke, but the government will studiously ignore that fact - which as quite a few have said, leads to the £ sign :-|

I smoke. I smoke in my friends car, as he also smokes.
I don't smoke in my sister's car - she doesn't smoke.
If friend and I take my grandchildren out, neither of us smokes in the car. When we're out of the car, we hide (one at a time) when we have a quick puff!!

I can think of more important issues the government could be discussing, rather than yet another potential money spinning waste of police time.

I have just read through the whole of this thread and whilst i agree that people should not smoke in cars where there are children, what about in peoples homes? Plenty of selfish parents smoke when they are pregnant and continue to do so when they bring the babies home.

So if you enforce a ban in cars, how exactly is that going to work? There are not enough police to monitor. How do you stop someone? It's not quite the same as speed cameras is it.

Don't get me wrong, i do agree with it in principal, but think there are other areas like the home where the ban could apply too. Only problem is, is it an invasion of peoples privacy what they do at home or in their car for that matter?
Not sure where you can draw the line.

Didnt they introduce a law about smacking children? Can't remember when or if that was passed?

The only sure way to solve this problem would be to stop the manufacturing of cigarettes.... but no they wont because the government make far too much money in taxes dont they?

Florence
in the hebrides :-|

We were in San Francisco, did the tourist thing & bought two lovely big crabs on Fishermen's Wharf........... got some sour dough bread and some drinks and headed off to find a nice place to eat.....

We found a lovely small park nearby........ ate our lunch while trying to ignore a couple having a "make out" session on the grass... a couple of males by the way.

Nobody bothered about the couple on the grass, but there were HUGE signs everywhere........ NO SMOKING IN THIS PARK.

I guess the couple went home afterwards to have a ciggie.

;-)

Uzzi. I don't think big brother would be needed if some people behaved more responsibly. Smoking and passive smoking are dangerous to health and one of the biggest killers in the UK. These are undisputed facts, to smoke whilst you have children in such a confined space as a car is in my opinion not only reckless but shows a total lack of concern for their health and well being.

PS. I am a smoker but have never agreed with smoke around food, and believe it your own choice to smoke or not.

Thankfully I have a car which is a no children car, as is my flat. (both are supposed to be non smoking ! :-D :-D )

I haven´t read the whole of this thread but I do feel that big brother is watching if this law goes through. I will also ask if every smoker packs up where the government will get the loss of revenue from. ......and please do not say from the NHS who don´t treat smokers.
So they will ban alcohol,sking,snowboardng, cycing and then extreme sports,

Rollo I think that's a very good idea seizure crushing and heavy fine for mobile phone users in cars. I agree that if enough people are fined more heavily for using mobile phones and hopefully for smoking , perhaps the message will start to take effect.

Why do you object to measures designed to prevent ill health death and injury ?

" The fuzz cannot control the use of mobiles in car never mind smoking."

Much the same was said when seat belts and crash helmets became compulsory. The same was said about child car seats and children sitting in the front seat. Nevertheless enough people got fines and points that mostly the message has got through. Not to Top Gear's Hammond though.

It is still sinking in with mobiles. If it does not sink in a bit faster DoT is looking at seizure on the spot and crushing of mobile phones. That may well be a bigger sanction than points and a fine as few people back up their mobiles.

There have been plenty of people fined for smoking in working vehicles.

Smoking kills - sometimes instantly as Roy points out.

Another daft idea from our MPs. The fuzz cannot control the use of mobiles in car never mind smoking. The number of police available for policing is going down rapidly. All pie in the sky and an "if Only" scenario

.Hope so. Wouldn't want to waste that.

Sharron did he retrieve his doughnut?

I remember delivering to a garage where there was brand new Bedford van written off in the yard.

The driver had dropped his doughnut and, in bending down to retrieve it from the floor, he had hit a telegraph pole.