Hmm ... Why is it that it is illegal to eat a sandwich behind the wheel of a car, but not to smoke???

Question

Some poor guy got a £60 fine and 3 points on his license the other day for eating a sandwich whilst driving. No such penalty is applied or enforced for smoking a cigarette behind the wheel ..... which would you say was more dangerous? You can eat a sandwich without taking your eyes off the road, yet to me it seems impossible to take out and safely light a cigarette whilst paying the road your full attention. Yet another money-grabbing police policy!?!?! I swear if they could effectively tax breathing, they would do it.

ps - perhaps i, and everyone else for that matter, would be a little less paranoid about the police and law enforcement in general IF there was the slightest bit of consistency in the way the law was applied and enforced. I'm afraid a culture which is exposed to ridiculously lenient sentencing, apparent disregard of victim's rights, tree-hugging, do-gooding, namby-pambying attitudes towards the low-lifes who carry out crimes and generally 'letting criminals off lightly' because the prisons are full ... is bound to breed a certain element of paranoia ... don't you think?

Answer 1

Really - this is a great question & I do agree with you. I'm on the side of the fence that says a driver should be doing nothing other than drive & my biggest bugbear is mobile phone users - there are still as many as before the second "ban"! I was working at the hospital one night when an entire family was brought in having been hit by a driver using a mobile. The parents died, the little boy died on the operating table (and I had to prepare him to go to the morgue) and the little girl survived but is a vegetable - so I've seen the real side of the dangers of using phones - but the same must be said for smoking, eating a sandwich, swigging a can of drink, applying mascara, reading maps, shaving - and all those other things I've seen drivers doing.

Answer 2

Its not illegal to eat, drink or smoke whilst driving. The actual offence is to be a) not be in proper control, or b) not have a proper view, or c) driving without due care and attention.

In other words if you're shoveling food into your face, you're not holding the steering wheel properly (i.e. with both hands).
Regardless of how good a driver you think you are, your attention is not where it should be (i.e on the road). Smoking whilst driving would be an offence if it could be shown that your driving standard was reduced below that of a careful and competent driver.

I've seen people reading maps, looking for things in the glove box, rolling cigarettes, shaving, putting on makeup whilst driving. Even changing CDs or tapes means you're not paying full attention to your driving.

Its not suprising there are so many crashes on our roads. The average standard of driving in the UK is pretty poor.

Have you ever spoken to the family of a child run down by a careless driver? Its not just a money-grabbing police policy.
If the police allowed people to do as they pleased, think of the carnage on our roads.

Answer 3

I have both eaten while driving and smoked while driving. And smoking takes a lot less concentration. Even lighting a cigarette doesn't take away from driving nearly as much as eating does. You can get a cigarette out of the pack and light it without taking a hand off the wheel or looking away from the road. A sandwich has a high probability of falling apart or having stuff come out of it and the driver having to look for the mayo he just spilled onto his clothes. The chances of a cigarette falling apart are a lot less.

Answer 4

If this occurred in the UK, then the charge would most likely be S3 Road Traffic Act 1988, driving without due care and attention. This charge covers a multitude of driving "sins". The police would have had to provide evidence to the court that the actions of the driver were careless. If police observed a driver, smoking whose actions could be deemed as careless they could provide the same evidence to the court.

Answer 5

You're really not looking at the full picture are you?

As a lot of sensible people have said, the actually offence is not 'eating a sandwich whilst driving' but may be due care, failing to keep proper control etc.

At the end of the day, if you are driving, you should do it properly and safely. If you can't do that then you deserve all you get.

Answer 6

The fact that someone hasn't appeared in the news yet, charged with smoking whilst driving, does not mean it is legal.
I believe a sentence in the new law includes a statement that reads something like:- any action taken whilst in control of a motor vehicle which results in loss of control is deemed an offence.
So dont do any of the following whilst driving:-
Have sex, pick your nose, tune the radio, eat, phone, polish your nails or apply make up, and for smokers, do not roll cigarrettes whilst using your knees to drive

Answer 7

it rather is not yet unlawful to smoke on an identical time as using. inspite of the undeniable fact that, to your guy or woman protection and robust well being, you ought to not be doing this. i choose to advise you attempt and stop smoking. Your well being practitioner can aid you with this. My well being practitioner placed me on a direction of pills and by way of day six i replaced into off the smokes for good. I have been smoking for over 50 years, lungs like kippers. have not smoke now on the grounds that final August. Going out is lots greater effectual, not greater smoke crammed eating places and bars etc. astonishing. you will like it.

Answer 8

I believe a guy was fined for window open elbow resting on window edge, finger tips on steering wheel, try it no police around you are not in proper control of your car both hands must be holding the wheel only exception is when changing gear.Your guy should have eaten his sanny before driving.

Answer 9

I know its all wrong! But it really winds me up cause the other day i saw a police car go past and the driver was eating some sorta sarnie, and i see them all the time with cans in their hands whilst driving etc its totally wrong that we get fined and they can get away with it.

Answer 10

Well, for one, a cigarett can be held with two fingers, whilst the others are still on the steering wheel, Its supposed to be lit, while the car is not moving. And if you are eating a sandwhich, which takes up the whole hand and you need to swerve and brake one hand is not available for use!