Should smoking while driving be banned?

We are told that woman car insurance is cheap because of ladies' safer driving habits - us female drivers are less likely to speed or be convicted of dangerous driving, and we generally take fewer risks on the road.

However, it may be that ladies could be putting their cheap motor insurance rates at risk by an everyday habit: smoking behind the wheel.

Now, let us be clear, this is not yet an activity which is specifically banned by law - unlike using a hand-held mobile phone whilst driving. However, just because it is not against the law to smoke while driving, this doesn't necessarily mean it won't affect your chances of crashing and sacrificing your car insurance.

A petition asking for smoking behind the wheel to be banned has been submitted to the UK Government. However, at the time of writing, it had received less than 1,500 votes of support; very few compared to the million-plus signatures on the petition against the proposed road pricing scheme.

There seems to be a clear case as to why motorists could well be distracted by smoking while driving, upping their chances of crashing. Let us look at some of those points.

According to someone who smokes while driving, lighting up is the most dangerous bit. As you have to look at what you are doing so you don't a) miss the cigarette with the flame altogether or b) burn your nose, this involves taking your eyes off the road and driving with only one hand on the wheel. Considering the temperamental nature of many lighters, this can sometimes take a few tries.

Once the cigarette is lit, you need to take your hand off the wheel every so often to puff on it. This isn't a big deal in itself, as we often remove one hand from the steering wheel to change gear anyway. However, if an emergency situation crops up and you need to take sudden action, worrying about dropping it might interfere with this.

Similarly, you also have to take your hand off the wheel every time you want to tap the ash out the window. It can be rather dangerous if you need to do this at the same time as you need to change gear, as it will mean both hands are off the wheel at the same time. At this point you would be totally out of control of the vehicle, which is just asking for an accident to happen.

However, possibly one of the most dangerous scenarios would be if you dropped a lit cigarette while driving. This would send most motorists into a state of panic and high distraction as they check whether the cigarette is burning either them or their car furnishings. Leaning down to pick up something which is loose in the car has been found to be one of the activities most likely to cause an accident.

These are all worst-case scenarios and the truth is that most drivers will happily puff away at the wheel without losing control of their cars. Recent research in America showed that just 0.9% of distraction-related accidents were caused by smoking. This is a tiny percentage, compared with other factors such as external distractions, other occupants and adjusting the radio.

It seems that there is a significant perception difference of how distracting or dangerous it is to smoke while driving between smokers and non-smokers. 74% of those who do not smoke believe that smoking while driving can affect performance, whilst just 27% of smokers agree with that statement. In fact, half of all smokers believe smoking while driving is beneficial as it helps them to relax.

As things stand, it looks as if smokers don't have to fear changing their driving habits in the near future. The UK Transport Minister Stephen Ladyman has confirmed that there are no plans to introduce a ban on smoking while driving.

However, a 2006 proposal did suggest that it should be included in The Highway Code as a type of distracted driving and classified in the same area as eating and drinking, arguing with passengers and loud music. This would see police be able to issue a £60 fine to drivers at their discretion.

For now, though, ladies can continue to light up behind the wheel without risking their woman car insurance, as long as the quality of their driving is not affected.

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