Ohio’s truckers no longer have to worry about being ticketed for smoking alone in their cabs, according to a story this week in the Columbus Dispatch.

More than a month after Ohio voters banished smoking from most public spaces, the state Department of Health exempted commercial trucks from the ban.
Facing criticism from truck drivers, the state Health Department this week backed down from including solo drivers in the ban. Officials earlier said that because trucks are workplaces, they would be covered by the ban. Now, however, only truck drivers who have at least one passenger would be prohibited from smoking.
"We’re not supposed to be regulating smoking — we’re supposed to be regulating secondhand smoke," Larry Davis, president of the Ohio Trucking Association told the Columbus Dispatch. "(Health officials) made a good stab at responding to our concerns."
Under the Health Department’s previous interpretation of the law, truckers would have had to remove ashtrays installed in their rigs. Davis said the modification would have cost as much as $1,000 for some trucks in which the work would have involved opening up the dashboard.
Department of Health spokesman Jay Carey said it was possible to allay the truckers’ concerns without violating the letter or spirit of a smoking ban approved by 58 percent of Ohio voters last month.
"This is one area where there were concerns raised and we addressed them within the confines of the law," Carey told the newspaper.