Smoking while driving: a French bill seeks a ban

Could smoking a cigarette while driving soon be banned outright in France? A bill tabled in the National Assembly seeks to change the current rules by directly prohibiting the driver of a vehicle from smoking.

Brought forward by Josiane Corneloup, MP for Saône-et-Loire, the text highlights three issues in particular: road safety, the prevention of fires caused by butts thrown from vehicles and, more broadly, public health.

What does the law currently say about smoking in a car?

Contrary to what is sometimes assumed, smoking at the wheel is not currently banned outright in France. A driver may smoke in the vehicle when every occupant is an adult.

There are nevertheless two important limits.

First, it is forbidden to smoke in a car when a minor under 18 is on board. The rule applies to every occupant of the vehicle, not only the driver.

Second, the Highway Code requires the driver to remain at all times able to carry out easily and without delay every manoeuvre required for driving. A cigarette held in the hand can therefore lead to a fine if the police consider that it interferes with driving.

The bill aims precisely to move past this case-by-case assessment by setting a clearer ban for the driver.

A bill to ban smoking at the wheel

Bill no. 3150, tabled on 15 September 2026 in the National Assembly, seeks to prohibit the driver explicitly from smoking while at the wheel.

The aim is to create a simple rule: the driver would no longer be able to light or smoke a cigarette while driving, even alone in the vehicle or accompanied only by adults.

The text does not, however, provide for a general smoking ban on every adult passenger. The idea put forward is to target first the person responsible for driving, whose attention must stay on the road.

Distraction at the wheel, at the heart of the arguments

For the MP behind the text, smoking is not simply holding a cigarette between the fingers. The driver has to take the packet, take out a cigarette, light it, deal with the ash and then put it out.

Each of these gestures can briefly draw the eyes off the road, or occupy a hand that should normally stay free for driving.

The stated aim is therefore to treat the cigarette as a potential source of distraction, in the same way as other behaviour that can limit the driver’s ability to react quickly.

Butts thrown from the window are also targeted

The proposal does not rest only on road-safety arguments. Butts thrown from vehicles also hold an important place in Josiane Corneloup’s approach.

The MP has explained that she was struck by a fire during the summer in her Saône-et-Loire constituency. According to the details she reported, the fire, which ravaged about 70 hectares of forest and destroyed a home, was said to have been started by a butt thrown from a car.

That episode is said to have been one of the main triggers for her bill. The idea she defends is a simple one: stopping the driver from lighting a cigarette would also reduce the risk of a glowing butt then being thrown from the window.

The butt the MP refers to is the one that leaves the passenger compartment. A car ashtray is made to keep it inside, instead of throwing it out of the window.

Could passengers still smoke?

This is one of the particular features of the text: the proposed measure targets the driver, and does not automatically extend to passengers.

An adult passenger would therefore, under the scheme envisaged, still be able to smoke when the general rules allow it.

The existing rule on minors remains essential, however: once a child under 18 is in the vehicle, no occupant may smoke.

What are the penalties for a cigarette at the wheel?

Today, a driver can already be penalised when holding a cigarette prevents them from keeping sufficient control of the vehicle. According to the official website Service-Public.fr, this offence can be punished by a fine of up to 150 euros, with a fixed penalty generally set at 35 euros.

When a minor is present, smoking in the vehicle is a separate offence: the fixed penalty is generally 135 euros and can reach 750 euros.

If the new bill continues its passage through parliament, the precise arrangements for a general ban on the driver smoking will have to be followed through its examination and any amendments.

Smoking at the wheel is therefore not yet banned in every case

At this stage, it is important to speak of a bill, and not of a new ban already in force.

The text was tabled in the National Assembly on 15 September 2026 and is going through parliament. It will have to be examined, and possibly amended, before it can become law.

For motorists who smoke, no new general ban therefore applies for the moment: when no minor is present, smoking remains possible so long as the driver stays able to carry out every necessary manoeuvre properly.

Towards ever stricter rules for smokers?

The initiative comes at a time when restrictions on tobacco have been multiplying. After enclosed places open to the public, public transport, schools and certain outdoor spaces, the car could thus become a further area of regulation.

It remains to be seen whether members of parliament will adopt the principle of a specific ban for the driver. Between individual freedom, road safety, fire risk and the fight against smoking, the subject is likely to keep the debate going over the coming months.

For smokers who regularly take to the road, the progress of this bill will therefore be worth following closely.