Although vaping while driving is technically not illegal in the UK, the country's laws allow police to decide what they deem a distracting handheld electronic device.
The problem with vaping behind the wheel is that breathing thick clouds of vapour into the car could temporarily blind the driver and cause a crash, even a fatal one.
The caution comes as latest figures reveal more than three million people in the UK currently use e-cigarettes, with the majority of them driving.
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"The smoke caused by vapes are a distraction and the consequences of them can be dire, all it takes is a moment to become distracted and potentially cause a crash and even worse, a fatality," said Sergeant Carl Knapp, with the Sussex Road Policing Unit, as cited by the Sunday Express.
A spokesperson for the Department of Transport said drivers should always follow the rules set out by the highway code and make sure they are in proper control of their vehicle, avoiding all kinds of distractions.
