Smoking Ban - If you are self employed can you smoke in your own van?

Question

If you are self employed and your work involves driving a van, so you are the only person that drives that van & no one else works with you or uses that van will it now be illegal to smoke in your own van?

Answer 1

yes as long as it is your van there will be no problem, they will stop you smoking on your works grounds but that is it, its a totally joke, but what can we do, all the best

Answer 2

no, its only works vans that other staff are in/other staff would use. Self employed people are ok, unless you have someone else in the van with you working for you. Like to see them try and pull over all the vans on the motorway with people smoking in, just on the off chance they might be breaking the law!! LOL

Answer 3

I drive for a living so these rules and regulations that are to come into effect in simple terms are:

No smoking will be allowed in any public place this includes places of work.

If you drive a vehicle for the purpose of business then that is classed as your place of work. If you work for a company and you are the only driver for that vehicle you are still not allowed to smoke. in other words..any company vehicle will be under these rules.

However the law states that if you are an owner driver..i.e self employed and you are the owner and driver of that vehicle then you are allowed to smoke as this is not classed as a place of work for other people...as with company vehicles the vehicle at some point will be used of a place of work by someone else...no matter how infrequent.

Answer 4

If more than one person uses the vehicle, then no. Where a vehicle is used as a workplace by more than one person, regardless of whether they are in the vehicle at the same time, it will be required to be smoke-free at all times. This is designed to protect shift and other workers using the same vehicle from the hazards of secondhand smoke.

Basically if you are the only person to use your van then you can smoke

Answer 5

I'm in the same situation as you are. the answer is:
If your vehicle is privately registered ie. in your name then yes you can smoke even if you are not the only occupant. It is classed as a private vehicle even if sign written. However make sure you have your registration document with you to prove private ownership.

If the vehicle is registered in your company name then it is a company vehicle and technically a place of work. The last I heard smoking was allowed on condition you were the only occupant at the time but I am not sure on this one. I would check first.

Answer 6

The smoking ban

Like it or not, smoking will be banned in all public indoor spaces in the UK by summer 2007. Different areas of the country will be affected at varying times - find out when the last *** butt will be stubbed out in a pub ashtray near you.

The UK smoking ban follows similar decisions made in several parts of Europe the USA. If you're a smoker in protest over the British ban, count your lucky stars you don't live in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, where the sale and use of tobacco is completely outlawed.

Where will smoking be banned?

Smoking in all indoor public places will be banned. Many places - such as cinemas and public transport - have rarely permitted smoking in recent years, and so it will be places like pubs, restaurants, nightclubs and private members' clubs that feel the biggest impact of the ban.

Where will you be able to smoke?

You'll still be allowed to light up outdoors, in the home or places considered to be 'homes', such as prisons, care homes and hotels.

Smoking could still be banned at certain outdoor locations that are 'substantially enclosed', such as football grounds and railway platforms. NO DECISION HAS YET BEEN MADE ON SMOKING INSIDE CARS CARRYING PASSENGERS.

What will happen if I'm caught ***-in-hand?

If you're caught smoking in a banned area you could be fined £50.

But who's really going to care if I light up a sneaky one?

Those in charge of the premises would be fools to let you get away with it, especially considering that they could face a £2,500 fine if they fail to stop you. They could also be charged on-the-spot fines of £200 if they fail to display no-smoking signs, with the penalty increasing to £1,000 if the issue goes to court.

Many companies have taken the step of outlawing smoking in company vehicles, however this is more of a policy decision than a legal requirement - I would submit that you will be allowed to smoke, lucky you!

Answer 7

You can smoke in the van. Why?
Because it's YOUR human right to do so! The smoking ban is a complete infringement of the human rights act, check out the frontpage of yahoo and support those who are fighting for our rights and are not willing to allow even more of our money to line the pockets of the fat cats!

Answer 8

It will be legal for you to smoke in your van. If you carry a passenger and you smoke I believe the fine is about £1500.

Klewless

Answer 9

If its a works vehicle that only you use, then yes you can...and no it is not illegal in those circumstances....What I would like to know is who is going to check..are they really expecting Police Officers to stop drivers who are smoking and ask them the necessary questions, so yet another law which will fall into disrepute because it can not be enforced, in which case why have it?

Answer 10

If it is a work vehicle and bought owned by the company (even if the company is just you) then you cannot smoke.

It all depends on whether you bought the van with your own money, or through the business.