Tobacco Companies and Road Safety

What have tobacco companies got to do with road safety you may rightly ask. Anything and everything is the answer, read on.

Tobacco Companies are fighting for the right to kill their loyal customers. Their campaign is to stop the Government's intention to compel tobacco companies to sell their products in plain packaging. The idea is that attractive cigarette packs with familiar livery will go. The merchants of death fear that this would be the catalyst that will spread around the world and cost them billions.

The Big Three - British American Tobacco Australia, Imperial Tobacco Australia and Philip Morris Australia - have established a front group that supposedly represents service stations, newsagent and convenience stores. Plain packaging, we are warned, would harm small business and cost jobs.

Hello, the idea is to drive down smoking rates. And hello, the smoker who quits is not going to stop spending their money.

Maybe panel beaters should start a campaign, saying that road safety strategies are driving them out of business.

PS. When are we going to see a road safety campaign that bans people from driving when they are smoking? Or smoking when they are driving!