Marginal Revolution reports, according to a new article in the Journal of Public Economics:
A rigorous statistical examination has found that smoking bans increase drunken-driving fatalities. One might expect that a ban on smoking in bars would deter some people from showing up, thereby reducing the number of people driving home drunk. But jurisdictions with smoking bans often border jurisdictions without bans, and some bars may skirt the ban, so that smokers can bypass the ban with extra driving. There is also a large overlap between the smoker and alcoholic populations, which would exacerbate the danger from extra driving. The authors estimate that smoking bans increase fatal drunken-driving accidents by about 13 percent, or about 2.5 such accidents per year for a typical county.
One might think this would lead advocates of smoking bans to reconsider their support, but my guess is that it will only lead them to argue for wider smoking bans. The Supreme Court allowed the 21 year old drinking age on the ground that it would prevent 18 year olds from driving across jurisdictions for alcohol. I wouldn't be surprised that this kind of finding would lead some people to advocate national smoking bans.
Hat tip to Marginal Revolution.
Typical socialist thinking here: 'we know what's best for you and we will force you to behave as we see fit whether you like it or not.'
Posted by: km | February 13, 2008 at 07:57 AM