UK motor insurance news
06/06/2007

Smoking while driving could cause cheap car insurance loss

It could be bad news for female drivers who smoke as UK road safety campaigners are calling for smoking at the wheel to be banned.

The Local Authority Road Safety Officers' Association (LARSOA) believes that smoking while driving could cause accidents and put drivers and their cheap car insurance at risk.

Currently there is no specific law which prevents motorists from smoking whilst driving, although a driver could face prosecution if he or she was viewed to be not in control of a vehicle.

A spokesperson for LARSOA said: "Drivers shouldn't be trying to smoke or eat when they're behind the wheel, they should be concentrating on the task at hand and the road ahead.

He also highlighted the dangers of smoking in the car, saying: "Smoking can be particularly dangerous when lit cigarettes are thrown from open windows: they can hit the car behind causing that driver to get a shock, they can be dropped in the car itself or blown back in by the wind leading to the possibility of injury or fire."

However, the chairman of LARSOA admitted that the group had no evidence that smoking could lead to car accidents or the resulting motor insurance claims.

A spokesperson for the cheap car insurance company CoverGirl Car Insurance Services said: "Although smoking behind the wheel is not yet illegal, the reasons outlined by LARSOA do highlight the possible dangers of doing so."