DUBAI - Smokers, beware! The leisurely drag that chokes your lungs, anyway, could burn even a bigger hole in your pocket. Come 2009, Dubai would be outlawing smoking while driving. If it does, Dubai would become probably the first city in the Middle East to penalise people who smoke behind the steering wheel.
The Dubai Road Safety Strategy, being prepared by a Sweden-based consultancy company, is likely to be implemented next year.
The strategy would focus on several traffic safety issues, including smoking while driving, Hussain Mohammed Al Banna, Director of Traffic Department at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) told Khaleej Times on Tuesday.
However, the official declined to comment on the kind of penalty, if any, to be imposed on violators. Though Al Banna did not specify the reason for such a move, it is widely believed that smoking while driving results in passive smoking for the other occupants of the car, especially children. More importantly, it could also distract the driver and possibly lead to an accident.
“At present, there are many initiatives being undertaken by the RTA and Dubai Police for road safety. And the safety strategy will cover all the aspects with various legislations and enforcement,” Al Banna said.
Closer home, the Indian capital, New Delhi, introduced ‘smoking while driving’ regulation in March 2007. “Anything that distracts the driver is dangerous,” New Delhi’s Commissioner of Police (Traffic) was quoted as saying.
The penalty for smoking while driving in New Delhi is Rs1,500 (Dh140 approximately).
In April this year, the state of Maine (US) enforced the regulation prohibiting smoking in vehicles carrying children.
Dr Jonathan Shenkin, a pediatric dentist and professor of health policy at Boston University’s School of Dentistry, who spearheaded the campaign to regulate smoking in cars, said children were most vulnerable when strapped to a smoke-filled car.
Also in April 2008, Ontario, Canada introduced a legislation banning smoking in cars in which children were present.
The Smoke-Free Ontario Amendment Act prohibited smoking in cars when a person under 16 is present.
SMOKING BAN IN OTHER PLACES
The Delhi High Court in India imposed a ban on smoking while driving in March 2007. A fine of Rs1,500 (approximately Dh140) is being imposed on violators.
The UK cracked down on smoking while driving in September last year. Under its Highway Code, smoking while driving is a breach of rules and is classed as 'distraction'. If a driver crashes the car while smoking, a fine of £2,500 (Dh17,000 approximately) can be imposed.
Okotoks, a town south of Calgary in Canada, banned smoking in cars carrying children in July 2008.
Maine, a state in the northeast US, has banned smoking in cars which has passengers younger than 16 years. (Sources: cbsnews.com, npr.org, Canada.com/calgaryherald)