According to a recent study by two economists at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (and they know a thing or two about drinking in Milwaukee) there appears to be a correlation between smoking bans and increases in alcohol-related traffic incidents. Their calculations indicate that a "typical" county (680,000 people) experiences a 13% increase in alcohol-related traffic accidents after smoking bans are enacted. (The suspicion is that people drive further in order to frequent bars that are weak on enforcement or heavy on outside seating.)
Cheers to unintended consequences!
Source: Scott Adams and Chad Cotti in the Journal of Public Economics. Referenced in The Economist, April 5th, 2008.
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