If you are a smoker, this news may be disappointing. However, if you are a non-smoker, you are probably going to be excited about this news.

Regardless of which side of the fence you fall on, the news that I am referring to is the fact that on October 1st of this year, Avis and Budget will both be transitioning to rental car fleets that are one hundred percent smoke-free. This policy will apply to their entire rental car fleets throughout North America.

So, why did Avis and Budget decide to make this change to their policy? According to Avis and Budget, this decision will make renting a car a healthier and far more pleasurable experience for their customers. By banning smoking in their rental cars, they will be ridding their vehicles of four thousand chemicals, including over sixty carcinogens, that are found in secondhand smoke.

The timing of this decision is good for both companies, given the fact that a recent study showed that concentrations of secondhand smoke are significantly higher in cars than concentrations generally measured in bars, restaurants and other public places that allow smoking.

In addition to applying this policy to its customers, Avis and Budget will also enforce this policy to its employees and sub-contractors who utilise their vehicles.

Because this announcement was just made, there hasn’t been time for a lot of public reactions to this decision. However, one group that is already applauding Avis and Budget for their decisions is the anti-smoking group Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, who is “a leader in the fight to reduce tobacco use and its devastating consequences in the United States and around the world.”