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Specifically mentioned in the Litter Act now as an offence attracting an £80.00 fixer.
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Not to mention the amount of fag ends emptied out of full ashtrays whilst stopped at traffic lights.
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You're right - I have noticed this when parked at traffic lights on the bike, gutter's full of them.
Pigs.
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Strikes me that this thread and coincidentally one or two other current ones, are actually just expressing dismay at an underlying rapid dilution of basic social courtesy. Our country was once lampooned for excessive politeness and "good" behaviour. Those standards seem to have become rapidly eroded by an attitude more in line with "every man for himself". I guess all one can do is try to encourage appropriate conduct in those close to us in the perhaps vain hope of stemming this tide. I suspect, however that Canute felt similar emotions about the real tide.
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I just love the duplicity in that I can't use a phone to tell someone that I'll be late, but the person next to me can set fire to a bunch of leaves and bask in the nicotine rush that it generates... quite legally.
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I just love the duplicity in that I can't use a phone to tell someone that I'll be late but the person next to me can set fire to a bunch of leaves and bask in the nicotine rush that it generates... quite legally.
smoking has a calming effect on the driver , but someone who is in a rush and is distracted by making a phone call whilst driving to say they will be late is a totally different situation and more of a risk , hence the ban !!!!
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If you look up what nicotine does to the brain you might rather that fewer people drove under its influence.
Perhaps a study of accident rates of smokers vs. non-smokers would be interesting? I'm not pre-judging this, it's well know that nicotine produces a state of alert relaxation, but can also produce euphoria (less desirable), or in large doses a sedative effect despite it's being essentially a stimulant.
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i would rather have nicotine addicts coming in the opposite direction than some muppet on the phone
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i would rather have nicotine addicts coming in the opposite direction than some muppet on the phone
I'm glad we agree that non-muppets on the phone might be less of a problem than drivers using mind-altering substances ;-)
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Strikes me that this thread and coincidentally one or two other current ones are actually just expressing dismay at an underlying rapid dilution of basic social courtesy.
Actually no. I just wondered if others had noticed an increase in fag ends being ejected from vehicles - nothing else and certainly no judgement on smokers (that's far too much of an emotional subject and not one which I wish to be involved in a 'discussion' about).
Interesting replies - thanks.
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As a serving fire officer, it is not uncommon for a discarded lighted fag to be sucked into the grill of a following car. It has been known for this to ignite the fibrous material underside of bonnets or lodge where minor fuel has leaked. Something to be aware about as the new breed of cars have such large grill areas.
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Even worse they can end up inside the helmet of a passing motorcyclist.... and there's very little worse than a face full of fag ash/butt...
Use the ashtray, thats what it's for.......
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Even worse they can end up inside the helmet of a passing motorcyclist.... and there's very little worse than a face full of fag ash/butt...
I can never manage that. You have such a small target area and they are always weaving about as they follow you, it would need to be a very lucky shot to get one inside the helmet.
Much easier to slow till they close right up then jam on the brakes and get them that way.
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Edited by Robin Reliant on 01/01/2008 at 17:56
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Believe me they manage it! Gave some woman a few choice words when I ended up with a face full of ash one time - I know we are joking about it on here, but its very dangerous - especially as most drivers who do it definitely don't check behind them before they chuck the things out...
Dirty habit, breeding another dirty habit, perhaps?! ;-)
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- especially as most drivers who do it definitely don't check behind them before they chuck the things out... >>
As a biker I've had far worse than a fag end chucked out of a window at me before, and not, I suspect, always inadvertently.
b308, you are assuming that said driver uses mirrors for more than putting makeup on/inspecting stubble/looking up skirt of passing dollybird (delete as appropriate) which I'm sure you will agree is a wish too far even at New Year!
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I once had a pyrotechnic display when a dog-end hit the visor, interesting!
However, I'm all in favour of other people who smoke, think how much tax they're saving the rest of us.
I also believe they do much less harm than our polluting tin boxes. What would you rather spend a night in the garage with, a chain smoker, or a car with its engine running?
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I once had a pyrotechnic display when a dog-end hit the visor interesting! However I'm all in favour of other people who smoke think how much tax they're saving the rest of us.
A good point BT, I gave up years ago myself but as Sir Humphrey once said in "Yes Minister", tobacco duty funds a lot of the NHS and smokers die sooner, so helping the Pension system!
If smoking in a car, the ends certainly should go in the ashtray; I used to get irate when the kids had filled the ashtray with toffee papers causing a fire hazard :-)
Also, in the days when most people smoked, pavements may have had a few fag-ends dropped on them, but they were easily swept up or they disintegrated and washed away
with the rain; now everywhere is speckled with white blobs of discarded gum which accumulates faster than it can be (expensively) cleaned off.
As others have remarked, this country has not improved as time has passed.
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I read somewhere that it was going to be banned anyway.
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I read somewhere that it was going to be banned anyway.
Probably !..................Orwellian thinking does seem to be becoming increasingly prevalent among our elected representatives. It's a fashion among politicians to hang their hat on these sorts of things. I expect it gains them a few moral high ground votes.
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I cannot think of a single advantage of allowing drivers to smoke at the wheel, only disadvantages: the drowsiness it induces in driver and passengers, the dirty windows, lingering smell, risk of burns and fire, the concentration required to light a cigarette, hold it, smoke it and then extinguish it safely without scarring motorcyclists, singeing other cars and actually starting a fire somewhere...
But can we, for once, educate rather than legislate? TV and press campaigns, proper shelters for smokers at service areas and picnic areas (if the government ever gets round to building some of those...) and reduced insurance premiums for motorists who declare their cars a smoke free zone.
One more scare story about "prison terms for motorists who..." and there'll be no drivers left !
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>>I cannot think of a single advantage of allowing drivers to smoke at the wheel
Well, it does keep the rate of income tax down - tobacco duty and all. We do die off younger too saving all that pension till you get the telegram from HM etc. Oh, the diseases we suffer tend to be acute but short duration.. more? Well, I've never met a vehement non-smoker that I'd enjoy having a drink with - they tend to be utter bores.
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I know, lets ban -
Smoking in cars ( hugely dangerous apparently )
Eating / drinking in cars ( distracting )
Phones in cars ( even hands free )
Children in cars ( Too noisy / distracting )
Passengers in cars ( Might speak to the driver )
Radios and other audio equipment ( Distracting )
Sat navs ( takes away valuable attention )
Etc Etc ..........
Alternatively -
Alow freedom of choice within reasonable perameters ( or is that just too left field ? )
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>>; now everywhere is speckled with white blobs of discarded gum which accumulatesfaster than it can be (expensively) cleaned off. >>
Chewing gum seems to have excellent wearing qualities. Why isn't it used for surfacing roads and pavements?
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Re comment above about works vehicles and trying to hide the evidence, N.Z. anti-smoking law bans smoking in the workplace, and includes company vehicles as a "workplace", so even being spotted by the plods smoking in your company vehicle results in an involuntary donation to the treasury.
Re use of ashtrays, I note that some cars no longer have them as original equipment. Maybe that is why we have the same fag-ends out the window problem as you.
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back in the late60s when i had a motorbike(bsa barracuda) i got fag ash from a lorry driver in my eye. open face helmet with visor. hurt like hell and almost fell off. jag.
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I do think there has been an increase in part caused by the smoking ban which has made smokers more conscious of their smoking per se, thus perhaps not wishing to keep butts/smell in a car driven by non-smokers, whether family members or others. Keeping the window ajar does reduce the need for window cleaning in a smoker's car, which is another reason.
I believe the habit is less dangerous than the use of mobiles or general lack of attention caused by faulty brains.
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I watched someone lighting up a fag in quite fast traffic yesterday. (I was front passenger, I should add). It requires the dexterity of a juggler and more than 100% concentration. The lighting up is perilous in itself (modern cars don't seem to have a lighter or ashtray either), then there's the matter of where to perch or balance the ciggie. Smokers tend to switch hands quite a bit. While indicating and changing gear, there is often a moment when the cigarette is held clamped between teeth. And turning the wheel (for the non-IAM majority) requires passing one arm very close to a lit cigarette.
Passengers and driver emerged from the car after a 15 minute journey reeking of smoke, dizzy and light-headed. (It was drizzly so the windows were almost right up.)
Conclusion: like yakking on a mobile, eating, drinking from a large polystyrene cup, etc. it *can* be done in relative safety on a long, flat, straight stretch of road, in fine weather, with no other traffic about. In an automatic-transmission cabriolet with cruise control, better still.
But for the other 99% of the time, it is MENTAL.
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