The menace of people smoking in moving vehicles and disposing off buds carelessly on roads is highly prevalent in India. A similar case has now arisen from the IT city of Bengaluru where a heated verbal argument broke out between a biker and an auto commuter over a cigarette.
As per the biker's allegation, the auto passenger holding a cigarette in his hand touched his leg while the 3-wheeler was passing by his 2-wheeler in JP Nagar 5th phase. The irked biker then chose to stop the auto and confront the passenger for his ruthless action. Sheikh Moin, who filmed and posted the incident on social media, was also seen accusing the driver of the auto of not driving properly and almost crashing into his two-wheeler.
"He has smoked publically. When questioned, he raised his voice," said Moin while recording the video of the incident. "You plan to upload on social media and gain popularity (by filming us)," said the smoker to which the biker said taking a dig, "You are probably a celebrity (for me to film you)."
Seated in the auto, the man was heard saying, "What problem do you have if I smoke in my vehicle (the auto he hired)?" "We will speak to the police. You have already noted the auto number and taken my number, kindly directly talk with the police," the smoker concluded his argument, followed by the auto fleeing away.
Meanwhile, the visuals showed the auto driver also arguing with the complainant and supporting his passenger, even as both sides agreed upon calling the police.
However, there were no signs of cops reaching the spot. Once the video surfaced online, police informed about looking into the matter.
Even though smoking cigarette or a narcotic substance inside an auto rickshaw is a punishable offence by law, several passengers continue to violate it as long as the driver is accommodative.
Not just passengers, auto drivers smoking bidis or cigarettes inside their vehicles is also not an uncommon sight in Bengaluru & other cities. There have been umpteen cases of ignorant people throwing lit cigarette buds and discarding ash outside the moving vehicles which many a time land on two-wheelers and other motorists. This can endanger their lives of not just those travelling in vehicles but also pedestrians. While the cigarette ash can fly into the eye and cause a corneal abrasion, skin burn, distract vehicle movement, the spark of the tossed butt can also potentially cause a fire in a vehicle underneath where it lands.
Smoking is injurious to health
