The poor old Tetley Bittermen were the first to feel the full force of vindictive Nannying authority when widespread coverage of competitive darts on TV revealed that far from being cheeky chappies with a heart of gold and a healthy lifestyle, the working men of this nation waddle when they should be walking, wake up each morning with a hangover from Hell and are struggling to do up their trousers in anything less than a size 48 waist.

Not long after that the Guardians locked their gunsights on Marlboro Man, and diminished him in the eyes of his once adoring audience from "steely eyed conqueror of horses and tanned, superfit rider of the ranges", to "phlegm plagued wimp with nicotine stained fingers, a persistent cough and filthy stumps for teeth".

Now the man who blows harmless (ish) smoke out of his car window is being portrayed as the Mr Magoo of the roads, unable to see beyond his own private pall of stinking smoke and an accident waiting to end in a tangle of twisted metal and ruined vaping equipment.

Who is next, I wonder?

I once saw a young mum driving the children to school in a big 4X4. She was waiting at a side road for a gap in the traffic while smoking a fag and screaming at the kids who seemed to be fighting in the back seat.

I once was assigned a company pool car that had been used previously by smokers. The windscreen was so covered with tar inside that oncoming headlights made it difficult to see the road ahead. Someone had tried to wipe it with their hand that just made streaks. I picked it up on Friday night and it was lunch time on Saturday when I was able to find a shop selling Windolene and a duster.

Seriosly, was it the Marlboro Man who died of lung disease ?

According to Wiki a number of different Marlboro Men died of smoking related diseases. Sad and ironic in equal measure.

I'd also noticed a number of cars recently with the driver almost invisible because of the 'smoke' from electronic cigarettes. It seems to be far worse (in terms of obscuring the view) than proper cigarettes, particularly in cold weather

I think the problem is that they are so used to having the drivers window in the 'smokers position (slightly down so ash can be flicked out), that they still do the same with the e-ciggarette but that makes the air colder and hence more visible vapour.

Presumably the police could still do someone doing this to the point of not being able to see out, in the same rules as for driving with frost on all the windows.