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[–] Myrv 1 point -1 points (+0|-1) ago 

I'm not sure where personal freedom comes in here. If the car was privately owned the government wouldn't be involved and the owner could exercise his personal freedoms as he wants. In this case though the car belonged to the corporation and as such was part of the workplace. The government is responsible for workplace safety and has decided smoking in the workplace is not allowed. So smoking in the car is illegal.

If the car was provided as a taxable benefit the owner would be clear to do whatever he wanted in the car. Alternatively the owner could have purchased the vehicle himself then charged mileage back to the company. Instead the owner decided to buy the vehicle as a corporate asset. I can only assume for some kind of tax benefit. As corporations are artificial constructs by will of the government they can set whatever rules they want and the owner has to follow them. Either the car is corporate or private, he can't claim it as both.