Can you smoke at the wheel of your car?

While the law does not prohibit smoking a cigarette or a cigar at the wheel, it remains ambiguous on the subject. So can you smoke and drive? Here is an article to help you sort out the facts.

Smoking at the wheel: yes, but…

In strictly legal terms, nothing prohibits smoking while driving. However, under article L. 3512-9 of the French public health code, as soon as a minor is present inside a vehicle, smoking on board is expressly forbidden.

Why, then, do the police sometimes fine drivers who smoke? The explanation is simple: article R. 412-6 of the French highway code states that a driver must give themselves every chance of remaining alert and able to carry out all the manoeuvres required to drive safely. In other words, holding a cigarette in your hand or raising a cigar to your mouth runs directly against that provision of the highway code.

What are the dangers of smoking while driving?

A driver should be doing one thing only: driving. In theory they can neither drink, nor eat, nor use their phone, nor smoke. Lighting a cigarette at the wheel takes your attention away from the road.

The same applies if you smoke cigars and have to relight regularly while keeping hold of the steering wheel. The pipe and the electronic cigarette are of course not exempt from this rule.

Fines handed out to smokers are infrequent. If they are stopped, drivers can argue that no legal text prohibits smoking at the wheel. They may be told in return that the highway code takes precedence, and be fined 35 euros, reduced to 22 euros if payment is made within the deadline. It is up to the police to establish the offence and justify it (an accident, a red light or stop sign ignored, a change of direction without indicating, and so on).