A Study Examining Compliance with the Anti-Tobacco Law Nb. 4207 Inside Taxis

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This observational study assessed compliance with the anti-tobacco Law Nb 4207 with regard to taxis in Çankaya district, Ankara.MATERIAL AND METHODS: This descriptive study was conducted in Kızılay, Kuğulu, and Tandoğan intersections on January 18-23,2016 between 9.00-11.00 and 14.00-16.00 hours in Ankara. Data regarding the status of the taxi (either cruising or not), smoking insidetaxis, smoking status of the taxi drivers and/or clients, location of the clients in the taxi, presence of a child in the taxi, and status of thewindows (open or not) were recorded using a data-gathering form.RESULTS: Three thousand six hundred fifty-six taxis were evaluated, of which 79 (2.2%) taxi drivers were observed smoking. Clients wereobserved smoking in 17 taxis (1.3%). Ninety-four taxi drivers and/or clients (2.6%) were observed smoking. Taxi drivers smoked morefrequently in the absence of a client. In addition, a smoking client influenced the taxi driver’s smoking status (p