British Medical Council Calls For Total In Car Smoking Ban

Wednesday, 17. August 2011

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I have never smoked and never will do. As a British gymnast when I was young and at an age when boys strutted about acting as they though they were men by puffing at Woodbines, I was told very bluntly that if I was to be part of the team I would not be allowed to smoke and if I did don’t bother coming to training. My passion was my sport so I ‘sacrificed’ the fags for the physique of a gymnast, not a bad sacrifice as it goes. But even having been a non smoker all my life I still support the freedom of choice for smokers to smoke if they want to as long as it doesn’t affect the lives of others.

So I’m not sure that I can support the views of the British Medical Association’s delegates at their conference this year when they called for a total ban on smoking inside cars. I think they have gone far enough banning smoking in cars used for work in which other employees will be travelling.

And whilst I would like to see smoking banned in cars in which children are travelling the law simply couldn’t be policed in an even and fair way.

So the suggestion by the Association is simply dopey, and the views of Dr Charles Noble extreme when he said that ‘It would be safer to have your exhaust pipe on the inside of your car than smoke cigarettes.’ Sorry Dr Noble but stupid statements like that do not further your cause.

We know that smoking is a danger to health but cigarette smoke is far less damaging than feeding carbon monoxide straight into your car. Do you have any views on this controversial view? Let me know. By Graham Hill