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Increase In Drunk Driving Fatalities Followed Ban On Smoking In Bars 

A ban on cigarette smoking in bars is meant to save lives by reducing patrons' exposure to secondhand smoke. But it may actually be having an unintended consequence, according to a study done at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM).

By comparing data from a variety of locations around the United States where laws requiring smoke-free bars exist with locations without bans, economists Scott Adams and Chad Cotti found a relative increase in fatalities caused by drunk driving following ban enactment.

The results of their study appear in the June issue of the Journal of Public Economics and have also been reported in the May issue of The Economist.

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