by Tabitha Hergest

Created on: February 27, 2010

Do you remember, when you were young, your parents telling you not to wipe the windows with your bare hands, lest you replace the condensation for the oils naturally secreted by your skin?  Perhaps you didn't - but the lesson there, although blindingly obvious to anyone with at least a quarter-wit now, is that the ability to see clearly through the car's windows is important for safety.

Or perhaps you've gone to view a second hand car, seen the shiny bodywork, heard the perfectly smooth engine, and then walked away when the owner opened the door because the interior made you gag.

Of course, if you want to buy a car and you know you are going to own it until it turns its tail-lamps up, then by all means, catch fire in the thing - as long as you don't go anywhere.  But if you intend to sell it at some point, do yourself a favour and keep off the weed for at least as long as you are behind the wheel; otherwise, you will find yourself looking at heavier depreciation as you find the nicotine stains difficult to shift, and the seats that little bit on the wrong side of uncomfortably sticky.

And then, of course, there's the windows.  Every time you smoke, the fumes have to go somewhere.  Those that don't settle in your lungs, on your skin, in your hair, your clothes, the upholstery, the dashboard and the carpets, will find a home on the glass.  Every time you puff, and indeed every time the tobacco is "idling", some of the smoke finds its way onto the glass where it forms a thin film.  Over time, this thin film can build up, imperceptibly, making the glass just that little bit less clear.  Of course, washing and so-on can mitigate this, but still the process goes on, daily muddying up the windscreen, the side windows and the back so that safety is put at risk.

Also, save for an open-topped car, the motoring environment is a very enclosed space.  True, there is a through-flow of air from the ventilation system, when it is operational, but  for the chain-smoker, the car can become a mobile fug.  Of course, there are very few motorists who smoke to that extent in the car, but even so, the effect of the enclosed space will greatly magnify the amount of smoke in the atmosphere compared with, say, a countryside walk..

Finally, the car is a potentially explosive environment.  Of course, the fuel tank, petrol lines and engine are, within normal operational parameters, fully sealed off from the driver so that no fumes would permeate where the smoker could set light to them - but a feature of mechanical components is that they can go wrong.  What's more, they can go wrong without warning.  Should this happen, it's tempting fate if the driver of such a vehicle is smoking at the same time.

That said, accidents resulting directly from smoking are quite rare  That it's neither big nor clever to smoke in a car is as much a subset of the fact that it's neither big nor clever to smoke, period as it is for any practical purposes regarding sources of ignition and explosive materials, safety and hygiene, but all these conspire to make it particularly unappealing.

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