Study: Smoking Bans Increase Drunk Driving Accidents
A new study, to be released by the Journal of Public Economics, shows an increase in fatal accidents involving alcohol after a public smoking ban is implemented in cities as opposed to those towns without a ban.
The study, authored by Chad Cotti of the University of South Carolina and Scott Adams of the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, took two years worth of data data from cities and counties with smoking bans along with alcohol-related vehicular fatality rates in said cities and towns, and compared them to areas without a smoking ban. Both Cotti and Adams said the results were “surprising.”
“Our first thought was, Throw it away, it must be wrong,” Adams said in an interview with The Capital Times. “We thought we would see a reduction,” but the data backs up the findings in their report.
Adams said the results are comparable nationwide, except in New England where there are many areas under a smoking ban. Maureen Busalacchi, Executive Director of Smoke Free Wisconsin, is skeptical of the findings. “People travel to a myriad of places. How would you possibly control all those factors?” argues Busalacchi.
Adams and Cotti claim that smokers who enjoy a drink travel outside of city and county bans to indulge in both their interests, resulting in more time on the road and increasing a chance of a DUI or a drunk driving accident. Both say a federal ban on smoking in public places would trump would-be drunk drivers who travel beyond the boundary of smoking bans for a sip.
In my past life, I was a tree or something. If not a tree, something that grew old and didn't move very much. I'm pretty convinced of this.