• European Smoking Ban

• Masterlease motors into Scandinavia
• Border Controls
• European Driving Licences
• Masterlease in Ireland
• Diesel Particle Filters
• Global Fleet Costs
• Speed Limits in Europe
• Drivers turn a blind eye to mirror safety
• New player in Swedish market

European Smoking Ban

Fleet managers lost in a fog of confusion over Europe’s myriad smoking bans, warns Masterlease

Although good for the health of the nations they are designed to protect, smoking bans do little for clearing the air over European consistency as they differ dramatically from state to state and even create confusion within the same country, warns leading pan-European fleet management company Masterlease.

The company which manages car fleets across 15 countries says a more universal definition of key words including ‘workplace’ and ‘enclosed space’ would send a clearer health message to the general public and unambiguous guidelines to millions of European workers as to where and when they can smoke.

“Clearer still would be a blanket ban in all work spaces, not to judge those who do enjoy a cigarette in their break, but to remove the confusion throughout Europe,” says Nick Brownrigg, CEO Masterlease Group.

“The United Kingdom and Ireland seem to be the only countries who have actually extended the definition of work place to include company cars or vehicles used for business - but even here there are wide discrepancies,” he says.

“Businesses in the UK have been left confused about the impact of the smoking ban on company vehicles.   The rules that are being introduced by the Government on 1st July in England are considerably different to those in Scotland – leading to massive confusion for all cross border businesses.  Last year Scotland enforced a smoking ban in all commercial vehicles, but in England this ban will be extended to include company cars when used by more than one person. 

“The Scottish Executive fell short of banning smoking in company cars when the law was introduced in April 2006, while in the Republic of Ireland the regulation covers all company vehicles, but not cars arriving from outside of Eire.  Cars crossing the border from the north will be covered by the English ban from July 2007, but not other foreign visitors.”

But the further you travel, the wider the discrepancies seem in terms of smoking bans. According to the European Network for Smoking Prevention, many countries have introduced strict bans in the work place and transportation, but the two are often mutually exclusive.

According to the ENSP’s ‘European Trend Towards Smoke Free Provision’ published late last year, countries like Austria have banned smoking on public transport, but not in workplaces while Cyprus also disallows it in private cars carrying any passengers under the age of 16.   In Germany the rights of smokers have been defined in the Smokers Protection Act 2002 so smoking is far from banned, but Italy legislated in favour of smoke free workplaces as early as January 2005.

“The pan European driving regulation map is varied and the smoking issue is adding a new dimension for employers who must advise drivers as to what policy applies to which territory if they are to comply with sovereign state legislation,” continues Brownrigg.

“There are fewer territories where the confusion is greater than in the UK. The draft English legislation currently states that a vehicle used as a workplace by more than one person, regardless of whether they are in the vehicle at the same time, will have to be smoke-free at all times.  Even if all the people using a shared car smoke, the legislation requires them not to light up in the car. 

“But the area that could cause the most confusion in the UK is that smoking will be allowed in vehicles that are for the sole use of the driver and are not used by anyone else, either as a driver or passenger.  Drivers of convertible cars are also exempt as long as the roof is down when they are smoking! 

“With fines of up to £2,500 for employers who fail to enforce the ban, this is an issue that businesses need to act on now. 

“Policing any ban would be very difficult for employers, so at Masterlease we are recommending that companies introduce an outright blanket ban on smoking in all company vehicles. This makes it much easier to enforce and minimises any confusion.

“Commercially it also means that companies will also save money because not smoking in a fleet car will mean the vehicle has greater residual value when it comes to the end of the lease life,” concludes Brownrigg.