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Ban on smoking cigarettes in all vehicles

Cigars, pipes and cigarettes slow your blood flow, cut off oxygen to your feet and hands and cause heart attacks and strokes ( Based on this information, should people be allowed to smoke in cars?
Driving a car, while smoking, can be a problem. If a person suddenly gets distracted while reaching for a cigarette or starts to have a heart attack or stroke, he or she could crash into numerous people killing them.
Cigarettes and tobacco smoke are full of chemicals and poisons. Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals most of which are very harmful. The toxins themselves can inhibit a person from driving carefully. Plus smoking is a major risk factor for coronary artery disease and heart attack. On highways with speed limits of over fifty m.p.h. or more, this can be very dangerous (
Cigarette smoking harms both mother and fetus. If a man is smoking in a car and a pregnant woman is with him she will be constantly exposed to second hand smoke. Secondhand smoke is very harmful for a child. It causes reduction in a baby’s weight and birth defects of heart, brain and face. It can even cause sudden infant death syndrome and deficiency in physical growth, intellectual development and behavior (Merck Manual).
Smoking in a car also puts other people’s, especially children’s, lives in danger. Children’s lungs are still developing and exposure to secondhand smoke can result in coughing, wheezing, phlegm and breathlessness. Even brief exposure to smoke can be lethal for children (American Lung Association).
Secondhand smoke contains more than 250 chemicals that are toxic or cancerous. It causes 150,000 to 300,000 acute lower respiratory tract infections like pneumonia and bronchitis in children each year. Many of these infections result in hospitalizations (American Lung Association).
Moreover smoking can cause children to suffer from ear infections. Eventually it can even cause hearing loss. Especially in enclosed areas such as a car, the smoke has no where to go but to spread internally. This causes discomfort and health hazards for the children (American Lung Association).
Smoking also impairs the lungs defenses by damaging the tiny hair like cells lining the airways that normally carry mucus toward the mouth and help expel toxic substances. These abnormalities impair the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. With age cigarette smokers lose lung function which can be very dangerous for a person driving a car (Merck Manual).

Sometimes while driving a car the cigarette slips from the smoker’s hand and falls off. This distraction can cause an accident. Plus the car itself can catch fire, the seat can get burnt and if this is an oil tanker then it could burst into flames killing many and sending even more to hospitals.
A Ban on smoking in all vehicles should be placed. It will improve highway safety and provide safety and better health for minors as well as adults. Moreover it will keep innocent civilians on the road safe from possible accidents.

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This article has 7 comments. Post your own now!

lalalalalal69 said...
Mar. 7, 2014 at 2:40 pm
Well written.You've got me convinced.
ZeeBYoung said...
Jun. 21, 2011 at 12:12 am
I agree to ban smoking in vehicles, but for a different reason. If a smoker is in the car with other non-smokers, even if the windows are down, smoke can still unwillingly get to the non-smokers lungs. I dont think thats fair that a person has to endure second hand smoke, risking their health for the sake of someone else. I tell this to my mom all the time, but she disregards me. Its upsetting.
Minnie said...
Feb. 9, 2011 at 9:12 pm
You cant stop people from doing what they do. Just like now the legal drinking age is 21, legal smoking age is 18, and weed is illegal, i can name numerous people at my school who partake in all of these activities [in school at that]. so just because there is a law against it people are still going to do what they want to.
IceCube. said...
Nov. 26, 2009 at 12:25 am
"or starts to have a heart attack or stroke"... You realize that smoking is not the sole cause of heart attack and stroke, therefore your point is invalid unless you just want to ban driving in general in fear of anyone having a heart attack or stroke.
Ashely said...
Nov. 4, 2009 at 1:36 pm
im sorry but i dont agree. i am a smoker and i respect not smoking in other peoples car, but MY car is like my house in a way and i wouldnt let anyone tell me i cant smoke in my house
hutchinsonj said...
Oct. 29, 2009 at 3:59 pm
I agree with you that people should not smoke when they are driving a vehicle. I agree with you when you said the following quote: "Cigars, pipes and cigarettes slow your blood flow, cut off oxygen to your feet and hands and cause heart attacks and strokes (" I agree with the oxygen being cut off from your feet and hands. You also said the following quote, "Secondhand smoke contains more than 250 chemicals that are toxic or cancerous." You are probab... (more »)
pictolover replied...
Nov. 6, 2009 at 9:21 am
I don't agree either. If you are in your car and someone wants to smoke, you can say no. But if you ride in their car, it's their decision. And smoking is not the only thing that can cause car accidents. If they ban smoking in vehicles, they will have to ban eating, music, drinking, and many other things.
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