Smoking Bans lead to More Drunk Driving
Scott Adams, of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Chad Cotti, of the University of South Carolina ran a national study on the effects of city wide smoking bans on drunk driving. The results,
Fatal accidents involving alcohol increased after communities banned public smoking, the study to be released by the Journal of Public Economics found. The authors attributed the increase to people driving farther to drink, either to a place with an outdoor smoking area or a city without a ban.
“The increased miles driven by drivers who wish to smoke and drink offsets any reduction in driving from smokers choosing to stay home after a ban, resulting in increased alcohol-related accidents,” the study says.
Makes you think twice about those smoking bans doesn’t it. Of course, the article is quick to point out that in New England, where rights oppressions smoking bans are wide spread, there was not an increase in drunk driving. This would point to the smokers not staying home but instead going to neighboring towns to smoke and drink. They then go on to suggest that a nationwide smoking ban would eliminate the problem all together. So would prohibition, but we all know how well that worked don’t we?