Smoker killed aboard bus

Press, 1 November 1984, Page 6

Smoker killed aboard bus

NZPA-AP Los Angeles A passenger aboard a Los Angeles City bus who insisted, “111 smoke if I want to,” was stabbed to death yesterday by another man enraged when the victim lit a cigarette. . A few hours later the City Council passed a by-law regulating smoke in workplaces. Adrian Kelley, aged 23, of Los Angeles, boarded the bus with his assailant downtown at 1 a.m. Mr Kelley had then lit up a cigarette, which is outlawed aboard Rapid Transit District buses, the police said.

The two men had struggled after Mr Kelley told the objecting passenger next to him, “I’ll smoke if I

want to.” The 15 passengers aboard the bus thought that the argument had ended when the smoker became quiet and the other man moved to another seat, and nobody noticed for several minutes that Mr Kelley had been stabbed, a detective said. The discovery was made just as the bus was a few blocks from the police department’s south-west division, and the driver stopped the bus and ran inside for help. The man with whom Mr Kelley had been arguing fled as the driver left the bus. A man returned to the station and surrendered about 20 minutes later.

The anti-smokinglaw could send employers to jail for six months if they fail to protect non-Smokers. The bill, approved 12-3 on its final reading, would give employers of four or more workers three months to find ways to prevent nonsmoking employees from being upset by smokers. The bill will go to the Mayor, Mr Tom Bradley, for his signature. He has said that he will approve some form of smoking law. Council members said that under the bill employers could seat nonsmokers away T from smokers, put up partitions, provide smokeless ashtrays, improve ventilation, or find other ways to protect non-

smokers. Smoking would be banned in bathrooms and in at least two-thirds of the areas of employee restaurants. Employers who . fail to establish acceptable smoking policies could be sentenced to six months in jail and fined up to SUSIOOO (about $2064). At least 14 other Californian cities, including San Francisco, have smoking laws. The tobacco industry lobbied against the Los Angeles bill. The bill’s sponsor, Councillor Marvin Braude, said, “It is crucial that we rise up as a society and say, ‘You can’t stop me from making a living and I can’t tolerate smoke’.”