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Do you mind if I...

• Do you mind if … = a useful phrase to ask something in a polite way. You could paraphrase it as: “Is it ok with you if …”
• text and drive (phrase): sending a text message while driving at the same time.

Here, the first person asks if he can smoke in the car. Smoking is widely recognized as something that will harm your health. The second person uses the same structure of the sentence with the example of texting and driving. Texting while driving is also very dangerous because you take your eyes off the road.  So, the second speaker is saying (sarcastically) that smoking is as dangerous as texting while driving.

Structure:

• Do you mind if…?
  • Use this structure to make polite requests. For example:
    • Do you mind if I open the window?
    • Do you mind if we stay home tonight?
    • Do you mind if I answer my cellphone?
  • Pay attention!, the answer might seem contradictory:
    • Do you mind if I open the window?
      • No, I don’t [mind] = it’s ok if we open the window
    • Do you mind if we go to that place instead?
      • No, not at all = it’s completely ok to go there
    • Do you mind if we finish as soon as possible?
      • Yes, I do, because we need to do it well. = it’s not ok with me to try to finish as soon as possible.