To the editor:

One of the problems these dayssa国际传媒攜ou could say itsa国际传媒檚 an excuse if you wantsa国际传媒攙ehicles are no longer fitted with ashtrays. Isa国际传媒檓 sure pretty much everybody smoked in decades gone by, and when you purchased a car you got the central ashtray, some had ashtrays on the driversa国际传媒檚 side door, and there was another for the backseat passengers. Flick your ash, put the butt out, all done sa国际传媒渋n-car.sa国际传媒�

As more and more of us gave up the habit (for me the added tax by the provincial government in 2002, for some the potential serious health problems) it seems the automobile manufacturers have decided it is an sa国际传媒渁ccessorysa国际传媒� no longer needed, and Isa国际传媒檓 sure it saves money not to have to design car interiors and then fit them with ashtrays.

And so we get automobiles without an ashtray, and as any sa国际传媒渂oneheadsa国际传媒� will tell you, his (or her) cigarette has to go somewhere because theresa国际传媒檚 no ashtray, so the roadside is the obvious choice.

So maybe politicians such as our premier, or maybe local governments, need to put some statutes in place that vehicles once again be supplied with ashtrays. They donsa国际传媒檛 necessarily have to be incorporated into the vehiclesa国际传媒檚 dash, but they could be supplied (like the child-seat fitting) as an sa国际传媒渆xtrasa国际传媒� and can be placed into any one of the cup-holders available; an inexpensive accessory which sa国际传媒渂oneheadssa国际传媒� wonsa国际传媒檛 go out and buy, but if it was supplied free they just might make use of it.

As an alternative, maybe provincial governments could sue the auto-manufacturers for the costs of fires where the fire was started by a cigarette thrown out of an automobile. Obviously it would be nice to sue the actual person responsible for all the fire-fighting costs, the loss of properties and the loss of timber, but invariably the result would be minimal, whereas suing a manufacturer could result in millions towards the cost taxpayers are funding.

Malcolm Roberts, Kelowna