Passengers should be able to choose smoke-free cabs

As World No Tobacco Day (May 31) approaches, I wish to highlight the need to have public vehicles that are free of third-hand smoke.

Legislation in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong requires the vehicles used for public transport to always be smoke-free, even when there are no passengers.

If Singapore has a similar legislation, why do we still encounter stale cigarette smoke in taxis and shuttle buses?

Many of the drivers who flout the ban on smoking within public vehicles use air fresheners to mask the smell of third-hand smoke, but the toxins remain.

Tobacco smoke is absorbed into the soft furnishings and lingers long after a cigarette is stubbed out, releasing particles that endanger the health of passengers who are trapped in a captive space.

Hong Kong launched a “Smoke-free Taxi” campaign in 2012 to encourage cabbies not to smoke in taxis and to kick the habit through a smoking-cessation programme.

Taxi associations supported the campaign. Participating drivers displayed “Smoke-free Taxi” stickers in their cabs.

In Taiwan, passengers can request a smoke-free taxi when booking a cab.

Even if drivers do not smoke inside their taxis and buses, passengers are subject to their exhaled cigarette smoke, which can be heavy for chain-smokers when they hop back in their vehicle after frequent smoke breaks.

All members of the public should have access to public transport that is free of third-hand smoke.

Since enforcement is often lax, we should adopt a system of having non-smoking drivers display decals on their windscreens so that passengers can identify them when hailing a taxi.

For a start, I call on the taxi operators here to let passengers book cabs driven by non-smokers to ensure a truly smoke-free ride.

This is not discrimination against smoking cabbies, but rather market segmentation to address an unmet need of non-smoking passengers.