randya

You're right, those articulated busses didn't work very well and they didn't last very long in Portland. I haven't seen one for at least seven or eight years now. Portland happens to measure air quality in a very central downtown location, at SW 4th and Alder, and the Portland Metro area has a fairly stringent emissions testing program.

Interesting footnote: Once upon a time, the state DEQ (the equivalent of Ecology in Washington), was claiming that bicycles actually made air quality worse, because they 'created' congestion...funny, but I thought cars and trucks caused congestion and gridlock, which I can then just slip right through on my bicycle....

Swoop

huh? :?

HaciRichard

I found this interesting: https://www.forces.org/evidence/files/aircare.htm

formicaman

The health benefits of exercise are such that even smokers who exercise are less likely to get cancer than thiose who don't. So there's that.

canyoneagle

I've been in the Salt Lake Valley for the past 5 years, and this area has some pretty wicked Winter inversions, with ridiculously bad air quality. I've also been curious about the effects of commuting in these conditions, and have considered a mask of some sort.

This somewhat informal (of questionable accuracy) study measured 10 times more particulate in the air from cigarettes (secondhand, not filtered) than from a turbodiesel car. What it doesen't clarify is the nature of the particulate (size/carcinogenic risk) or the chemical composition/density.

tarwheel 

You do realize that you responded to a thread that is 7+ years old ....

ThermionicScott 

And its lungs are still pink!

cyuen

Given that previous research shows that car occupants get a big dose of the pollution from driving in a "tunnel of exhaust" that takes time to dissipate, I hypothesize that if every car switched their exhaust pipe to their left side instead of their right, cyclists and pedestrians on major streets would enjoy significantly cleaner air.

Why are car exhaust pipes so often on the right side anyway? I hate it the most when there is a traffic jam and a bunch of vans with side exhausts are blowing smoke directly into the bike lane.

mtbikerinpa

In my city there are 2 lanes wide 1 way roads going 25mph with lots of lights, so it actually works on several levels to use the left lane left side instead of the extreme right. I'd rather be on the driver side of the passers anyhow. Safer and cleaner air, but somehow it seems there is more tobacco smoke than there is vehicular smoke in my area.

rschreck

+1

But to add...a diesel IS more efficient than a regular gas engine.

SlimRider

I undertand the basis of your point, but in all honesty you cannot omit the fact that one behavior is almost unavoidable, while the other is abolutely freaking nuts!

Erick L

From Andy Singer's Cartoons:

no1mad 

I'll presume you're talking about cars here in the U.S. It's probably because drivers sit on the left hand side of the vehicle and auto designers route the exhaust as far away from the driver as possible, generally. Said designers cater to the needs of the driver and not people on the sidewalk or bike lane.

Now could someone kindly fire a head shot at this zombie thread??

crl12

so you judge dangerousness with the color? the quantity? (https://www.newscientist.com/article...iesel-exhaust/) even judging by the smell is wrong (even though I personally prefer exhaust pipes smell than tobacco smoke)

you forgot to compare with:
A Review of Cigarette Smoke and it's toxicological effects
Hazardous Compounds in Tobacco Smoke

and the quantity difference: https://www.newscientist.com/article...iesel-exhaust/

of course the total mass of pollutants from cigarette vs car exhaust pipe is something like 3% (in PM2.5 measured in Paris area in 2012 with the total sells of cigarettes Tabac : évolution des ventes - OFDT 60 billions units (/6 for Paris area), 11mg consumed, makes 110 tons. Compared to 3900 tons from cars) but those fumes (cigarette) are much more localized near people

so I stand with OP, I ride everyday and am more bothered by smokers in their cars (with the facts above and also that some oil burned seems less dangerous than some poisonous things burned)

Mos6502

Thank you for reviving a thread everybody forgot about in 2012.

SamHouston

Given the news of the past few days, it is now properly topical. What with Volkswagon deliberately & with purpose defrauding pretty much everybody who breathes by installing software designed to cheat emissions tests on millions & millions of their diesel cars.

fietsbob

the smoking and driving is outside of public accommodations nowadays.

Mos6502

Cheating U.S. emissions tests... what a boring topic. There are far greater practical dangers out on the road than cigs or volkswagen fumes.

wphamilton

Even though it's a zombie thread ...

Smoking is far more harmful. I realize that there is a comparison "study" out there purporting to show a kind of equivalency, but it is completely bogus and best ignored.

That said, exhaust fumes are more damaging than we generally credit them for. An MIT study determined that " Emissions from road transportation are the most significant contributor, causing 53,000 premature deaths, followed closely by power generation, with 52,000" Study: Air pollution causes 200,000 early deaths each year in the U.S.

That's "contributed" not "caused by", but even so it deserves more concern than we typically give.

SamHouston

IKR, why waste a moments thought on any example of a major industrial player that furthers car-centric society deceiving the public wholesale to gain or preserve market share at the cost of health and efforts entire nations take to act on climate change issues. LoL, not worth a moments thought, not one thing there that any alternative transportation advocate could capitalize on in the realm of ideas that help form transportation policies. j/k j/k

SamHouston

Yup, cigs worse unless you actually put lips on a tailpipe.

Phil_gretz

Outdoors to a bike rider, I believe both are fairly insignificant, unless you're in an inversion layer situation or a sheltered valley where smog accumulates (LA basin, for example). Where the air moves, neither matters much.

Indoors, both will kill you. One much more slowly than the other, though.

SanSerif

Whenever a driver makes a derogatory comment about me enjoying a smoke mid commute (there's a coastal stretch with a fantastic view and it seems a pity not to pause a while and get lost in thought and wraiths of smoke), I suggest they puff on their exhaust while I finish my ciggie and then we'll discuss the comparative merits of our different addictions.

crl12

You're a cyclist and smoker? god.. and I thought I wouldn't have to worry about other cyclists