NEW YORK, Jul 08 (Reuters Health) -- Kicking the smoking habit does not raise risks for car accidents, according to a new study. The finding runs counter to those of previous research, which found that the number of workplace accidents increases on Britain's national No Smoking Day.
There is "no obvious indication that the effects of nicotine withdrawal on (No Smoking Day) led to an increased number of road accidents," concludes Jackie Knowles of the Transport Research Laboratory in Crowthorne, UK. Knowles' report is published as a letter in the July 8th issue of the journal Nature.
Up to 2 million British smokers abstain from smoking or cut back on cigarettes on No Smoking Day, an annual event in the UK since 1984.
As reported last year by Reuters Health, Andrew Waters and colleagues at Britain's Health and Safety Executive found that rates of on-the-job accidents were significantly higher on No Smoking Day, held the second Wednesday in March, than on either previous or subsequent Wednesdays.
As a kind of follow-up to that study, Knowles examined rates of UK traffic accidents over a 10-year period.
The researcher found no indication of significantly more accidents on No Smoking Day than on the previous Wednesday or the following one.
Therefore, the question of whether nicotine withdrawal raises risks for mishaps remains unresolved. Nevertheless, most medical experts believe that 'butting out' should be the ultimate goal of every smoker.
"Giving up smoking is the most important thing anybody can do to improve their health," Waters told Reuters Health last year. He believes that "a small risk in the increase of an accident doesn't get anywhere close to challenging the massive health benefits which accrue from giving up smoking."
SOURCE: Nature 1999;400:128.
