Little-Acorn
04-07-2008, 07:36 PM
Here's a weird one. The law of unintended consequences strikes again!
Apparently when communities ban smoking in bars, restaurants etc., people who want to smoke as they drink (or have a drink with dinner etc.) drive a lot farther to find a place where they can. And when they drive home again, POW.
And another government effort to save us from ourselves, flops on its face.
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,347751,00.html
Study: Banning Smoking Increases Drunken Driving
Monday, April 07, 2008
MADISON — Enacting city smoking bans appears to increase drunken driving, according to a new national study of arrests by Wisconsin researchers.
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.
The researchers, Scott Adams, of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Chad Cotti, now at the University of South Carolina, said they were surprised by the results.
“We thought we would see a reduction,” Adams said. “Our first thought was, ‘Throw it away, it must be wrong.’”
But it wasn’t, he said.
The study looks at highway fatalities from 2001 to 2005 involving at least one driver with blood alcohol content over 0.08. It compares those in cities and counties with bans to crashes in surrounding areas without bans. It found an increase in accidents after smoking bans were enacted, both in ban areas and near boundary lines.
Apparently when communities ban smoking in bars, restaurants etc., people who want to smoke as they drink (or have a drink with dinner etc.) drive a lot farther to find a place where they can. And when they drive home again, POW.
And another government effort to save us from ourselves, flops on its face.
-----------------------------------
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,347751,00.html
Study: Banning Smoking Increases Drunken Driving
Monday, April 07, 2008
MADISON — Enacting city smoking bans appears to increase drunken driving, according to a new national study of arrests by Wisconsin researchers.
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.
The researchers, Scott Adams, of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Chad Cotti, now at the University of South Carolina, said they were surprised by the results.
“We thought we would see a reduction,” Adams said. “Our first thought was, ‘Throw it away, it must be wrong.’”
But it wasn’t, he said.
The study looks at highway fatalities from 2001 to 2005 involving at least one driver with blood alcohol content over 0.08. It compares those in cities and counties with bans to crashes in surrounding areas without bans. It found an increase in accidents after smoking bans were enacted, both in ban areas and near boundary lines.