I note with interest the current debate on passive smoking, apparently given some impetus by 4,000 NHS doctors writing to the Government and the dubious early results of a ban on smoking in Ireland (The Argus, July 6).

Would these same doctors require a similar ban on passive inhalation of car exhaust which is far more toxic than cigarette smoke and is chucked out by millions of cars on a daily basis?

Okay, not too bad on a breezy day but anyone who has walked or cycled in town traffic on a hot summer's day will get my gist.

And would any Irish Government issue similar restrictions on the sale and consumption of alcohol, a short, medium and long-term health hazard? I doubt it. Such bans would prove more tricky to implement and be too unpopular but would surely prevent more untimely deaths and health hazards than penal-ising a few million smokers.

Of course, the demise of the motor car would have an adverse affect on the motor industry but in a perfect dream world this could be re-substituted by horse-drawn vehicles that would have the benefit of state-of-the-art rolling stock, pneumatic tyres and comfortable suspensions and a network of fine A roads and motorways already in place.

Like most dreams, this one would turn nightmarish, with eco-friendly folk telling us the rear-end emissions of horses pose some grave threat to the rest of us and that some government bodies should intervene immediately.

To them I say: "Do like we did in recent history - collect it in a bucket and stick it round yer rhubarb!"

-Paul Nicklin, Bognor Regis