The fining of an Ontario truck driver for smoking in his rig has sparked questions about discrepancies between provincial and federal smoking laws, and what steps law officials must take in enforcing them.
Essex County Ontario Provincial Police pulled over a truck on Highway 401 near Windsor at about noon on Wednesday after the 48-year-old driver was seen smoking. Some truckers say it’s ridiculous that they can’t smoke in their cabs and think their industry is already regulated enough.
He was fined under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, a 2006 law that prohibits smoking in enclosed workplaces and public areas such as bars and restaurants.
An enclosed workplace can also be any vehicle covered by a roof and that employees work in or frequent while working, regardless of whether “they are acting in the course of their employment at the time,” according to the legislation.
Found by Patrick Rady.
Surely the police have better things to do. Why are they enforcing work-place laws anyway? Especially ones as ridiculous as this.
Just what we need. A bunch of nic-fitting truckers on the road.
Some truckers say it’s ridiculous that they can’t smoke in their cabs and think their industry is already regulated enough.Some truckers say it’s ridiculous that they can’t smoke in their cabs and think their industry is already regulated enough.
Haha if you guys repeat it we will be more aware of their suffering.
[Fixed. – ed.]
As somebody who frequents roads up here in the great white north, I can say truckers need more regulations, not fewer. Yes this smoking ban is ridiculous, but I’ve been nearly run off the road by unobservant truckers more times than I care to count. Maybe once they demonstrate the ability to follow basic safety laws, they can have the privelige of smoking in a workplace
As #3 says you might want to delete duplicate post
as a non-smoking Canucklehead, I say this law is f**king ridiculous and the cop should be disciplined for wasting tax payer’s money
yea, who ever said truckers need more regulations has obviously never hauled a load in their lives. With the onerous laws in place as they stand, the DOT have the obligation to randomly pull a driver and potentially ruin their life. There are all too many laws in place that do nothing but appease some senator that got a blow job from some policing lobbyist. Education is the key here, you damned four-wheelers have no idea what a truck is capable of, let alone how to share the road. Truckers may have a thousand times more experience than normal drivers, but they’re not psychic, when you’re getting “run off the road” it’s probably because you were sitting in his blind spot for the last 10 miles and some other genius decided to cut him off forcing him to take drastic maneuvers. I can’t even tell you how many times *I* almost ended up in the ditch just to avoid someone with their proverbial head up their asses.
basically, you damned 4-wheelers are the ones clogging up the scenery and breaking our minds. Truckers aren’t the only ones that should have their heads up and pay attention on the highways.
Next up: Man successfully sues trucking corporation for providing him with an unsafe workspace. He said that due to the cigarettes he lit while driving, the air quality in the cab dropped due to unsafe levels.
I work at home. So if I smoke in my living room, am I breaking the law?
If I look at pr0n while working, can I sue myself for sexual harassment?
Truckers are professional drivers.
When I’m driving, I never am concerned with the driving of a truck driver … they do it for a living …
.. it’s the mom in the minivan
.. or the girl talking on the cellphone
.. or the teenage boy who can’t estimate distances and wants to drive fast
… or the 80-year old unfit for high traffic that scare me.
It is rather rare that a truck is involved in an accident in my city.
Granted in “boring drive” places like Montana or Canada things may be different.
A load of shit. That’s what that is. The truckers I know are owner/operators. They own their rigs, and can smoke all they want. It’s already their home on the road.
How does this crock hold up to entrepreneurs or others that work from their own homes? Wait, Canada doesn’t have a 2A. So I guess the Canuk authorities can come in and tell them what and when to eat, when to sleep and when and how long they have to take a crap too.
Wow trucker dave, you defend your profession by being an unsympathetic asshole.
Yes, the vast majority of truckers are pros who do a hard job in a professional manner. And some of them are bullies who carelessly drive several thousand tons of steel with no regard for the other smaller and weaker folks on the road.
Guess which group your “4 wheeler” comments sound like?
Smoking is stupid but so is this law.
Some people just can’t resist the urge to impose their will on others and run their neighbors lives for them.
And to think the reason these laws were put in place was to protect the NON-smokers.
I guess not.
Yeah I noticed that after I typed it. Oops.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Also, I rarely (or ever) have problems with truckers. You have to give them a little extra room due to the laws of physics. However I do have problems with:
Testerone laden soccer moms in minivans
Lawyers texting on their Blackberries
Bimbos putting on their makeup
Teenagers making out in pickup trucks (at 120 km/hr)
And that’s just the last week. 😉
#17, qb,
I’m with you, but that just happened yesterday for me. A few times over. I made a quick trip to the Chicago ‘burbs and let me tell you, upper middle class white folk have an attitude when it comes to who owns the road.
Car rentals Sydney have a current copy of the Sydney street directory is in the glove box of all our hire cars.