Canadian Politics
Smoking in New Jersey
By Arthur Weinreb, Associate Editor,
Monday, August 1, 2005
New
Jersey Assemblyman John McKeon is sponsoring a bill to ban smoking by
automobile drivers. Under the proposed legislation, drivers caught puffing on
cigarettes, pipes, or cigars while operating a motor vehicle will face a fine
of up to $250.
Although
several jurisdictions are contemplating banning smoking in cars that children
are riding in, there are currently no laws aimed specifically at drivers. The
purpose of the bill, according to McKeon, is to cut down on the number of
accidents that are caused by drivers who are distracted by the activity of
smoking.
The
Assemblyman's proposal is one of the clearest examples of how the minds of
those who wish to completely intrude into the lives of citizens, works.
The
proposal really isn't about safety at all. New Jersey is one of the
jurisdictions that have banned the use of hand-held cellular phone use while
driving a motor vehicle. Yet smoking a cigarette cannot be compared to cell
phone use. A driver who is speaking on a cell phone needs to have one hand off
the steering wheel during the entire time he or she is on the phone and some of
these telephone conversations can be quite lengthy. This is completely
different than a smoker, who, in between taking puffs, can hold a cigarette and
keep both hands on the wheel. And no one (or hardly anyone) constantly smokes
in the same way that some people are constantly on the phone while they are
driving. McKeon's legislation of course does not propose that drivers be penalized
for not keeping both hands on the wheel.
The
law really has nothing to do with health either. If the Assemblyman was really
concerned about the health of those who ride in automobiles, he would propose a
bill that would ban smoking in vehicles outright. But his proposal does nothing
to prevent a passenger from lighting up in a car even if there are three
asthmatic children in the backseat.
The
Cherry Hill Courier Post cited a study undertaken by the American Automobile
Association. The AAA tracked 32,000 automobile accidents that occurred between
1995 and 1999 and of these accidents were cause at least in part by driver
distraction. The study found that the number of accidents that were caused by a
driver being distracted by smoking was 1 per cent. This was substantially lower
than the 11 per cent of accidents that were attributable to the driver fiddling
with the radio or changing CDs. Yet McKeon only wants a ban on smoking; his
legislation does nothing to attempt to reduce the more serious cause of
accidents by proposing the drivers be prohibited from touching their radios or
CD changers while their vehicle is moving. Only smokers who are actually
driving are targeted and they are only targeted for smoking; the proposal says
nothing about those drivers who drink coffee, eat donuts or comb their hair or
apply makeup or any other such activity while they are operating their
vehicles.
McKeon's
bill is not about health. It's not about road safety. It's really only about
him.
McKeon's
father died from emphysema and his proposals are nothing more than a not very
well thought out mission to go after smokers. His law neither protects health
nor improves road safety in any meaningful way. It is simply an abuse of power
to satisfy a personal agenda.
Legislators
like McKeon need to be watched. They have no compunction about trampling the
rights of others to enact measures that serve no public good except make them
feel better.
Hopefully
the New Jersey Assembly will have enough common sense to turf McKeon's silly
egocentric bill.
Arthur Weinreb is an author, columnist and Associate Editor of Canada Free Press. His work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Men's News Daily, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck and The Rant. Arthur can be reached at: aweinreb@rogers.com
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