NJ Lawmakers Push for Bill to Stop Drivers from Smoking in Cars

[cyberpj]

(snip)
"The day a politician wants to tell me I can't smoke in my car, that's the day he takes over my lease payments," said John Cito, a financial planner from Hackensack, NJ with a taste for $20 cigars.

(snip)
Mitchell Sklar, of the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, said police departments may balk at enforcing such a law.

"In general, we'd rather not try to incrementally look at every single behavior and make those a violation," he said.

http://www.kyw1060.com/news_story_detail.cfm?newsitemid=48077

[SouthernDem2004]

1. This is so wrong. I do not smoke and I think its wrong. /nt

[Beaver Tail]

2. I agree

I am an x-smoker (the worst kind of non smoker) and I think this is a stupid idea.

[louis-t]

3. Saw this guy on Tucker Bow-tie last night

Carlson ripped him a new one. Challenged his facts, asked him if he's doing this because he hates smoking so much. I usually hate Tucker but nothing else was on.

[KansDem]

4. I wonder if this is for the auto insurance industry...

It seems to me the more "culpable behavior" they can ascribe to accidents, the fewer settlements they will have to pay out.

For example, last February I was in a bad accident that totaled by '96 Ford Taurus. I was not at fault. Even though the other driver admitted fault (she was preoccupied by a cup of coffee--written up in the police report) and another driver gave a statement to the officer about how she ran a red light, I spent weeks trying to get a fair settlement from her insurance company. They were always "lowballing" the amount to replace my car. Finally, we settled for an amount that, after I paid off the '96 Ford, I only had enough left over for an older car with more miles ('93 Taurus).:grr:

Anyway, if this law was in effect and I had been smoking (I smoke a pipe occasionally), then I sure the insurance company would have given me an even lower settlement "because I was in violation of the law."

It's all about accountability and, true to BushCorp ethics, the less accountable, the better...

[gman16]

5. Not to worry

Lorretta Weinbergs name is on this, she does not have a successful record of getting things passed. She has colluded with several corrupt Democrats in the North Jersey area, and from my experience with her, has no problem blowing people off if it benefits her position.

[bmcatt]

6. Devil's Advocate time again...

Damn, but I feel compelled to speak up in favor of something like this... Not necessarily because I like the idea, but because there's a reasonable explanation (if not real data) behind it.

Remember when everyone started yammering about how "cell phones in cars cause accidents"? So what happened? Everyone then got on their high-horse about how using a cell phone in a car was a Bad Thing(tm) and hands-free sets suddenly became the rage. Guess what? Further studies show that the issue isn't "holding" a cell phone. The problem comes about because of divided attention and trying to talk on a phone (regardless of how you're using it) and drive at the same time.

This *is* about personal responsibility. Most people think that, after they've spent a little time driving, they can drive on "automatic" and that's when they get into trouble.

About 10 years ago, I got my pilot's license. One of the most important lessons that my flight instructor ever taught me was "the 3 priorities" of flying a plane. In order, the most important things you can do are:

1) Aviate
2) Navigate
3) Communicate

Or, to put it otherwise:

1) Fly the damn plane!
2) Know where you are and where you're going.
3) Talk to someone (anyone) else, regardless of whether they're in the cockpit with you or on the ground.

Too many people forget that priority number 1 when you're in the driver's seat is "DRIVE THE DAMN CAR!"

I know that, back when I was allowed to actually use a "real" cellphone in a car (without a hands-free set), I had no problem whatsoever telling the the other person, "Just got busy here - hold on a minute" and putting the phone down until I was clear and had enough spare brain-power to devote to the phone again.

So, yeah, I can easily see that changing one's mental focus to "damn, I have to light another cigarette" could cause an accident. Maybe rather than trying to "fix" every possible distraction, we could just train drivers better so that they understand that driving requires concentration and skill and shouldn't be a "right" that everyone has.