smoking in cars ban?

[ivykaty44]

Will it actually work? I can't see that many people smoke around children anyway and those that do will not stop due to legislation anyway, then if people haven't been policed about mobile phones it will be even harder with smoking.

I am not a smoker and don't think people should allow smoking around children but can't see this having any effect

I rarely see a police car so who is going to enforce the ban? Cameras?

I don't smoke btw.

Agree with mini - revenue from tax on cigarettes makes so much money the government won't ban it outright.

I have no idea how they will police it but my ex smokes around my son in car and it drives me mad!
ive asked him to not do it but he still does i personally think it a good idea for my child if the ban comes in

Yes, what mini said. The duplicity of tobacco control in this country is jaw dropping.

Smoking in a car with children is clearly shitty, shitty behaviour but looked at against the overall background of the tobacco industry, the tobacco control industry, big pharma, government coffers and the tangled web of dependencies they have created between them, this law is clearly not health-driven.

I'd like to see some absolute stats. Relative stats of risk are slippery and misleading. 11% higher than what? I don't doubt there are risks to passive smoking and particularly passive smoking in a car but I'd like it if the risks could be considered proportionately.

I'm also wondering what political purpose it might serve to have a group of people - smokers - who can be vilified to such an extent with complete social approval.

Full disclosure: I'm an ex-smoker, now a vaper.

Saying that only people who don't care, smoke with their DCs in the car is massively oversimplifying.

My DP is exactly the kind of person who this law will make a difference to.

He does care, and is an intelligent man - usually! - but he thought that smoking while the windows down was OK. I was horrified to discover he was doing this on a regular basis with DS in the back, but he genuinely thought it was OK.

He's generally law abiding, so will comply with this I'm sure.

tottaly agree with the ban i smoke and have 3 young children i would never ever dream of smoking in the car house or anywhere where thier little lungs can breath it in. i smoke outside and have a smoking jacket always wash hands after having one. i think they should ban smoking in the car it is dangerous and a lot of people smoke in the cars with thier children they wont stop everyone but hopefuly stop a lot of people

my fil smoked his pipe in the car when he and mil were transporting my kids back home to us. I knew immediately as they stunk when I hugged them. DD1 let the cat out of the bag and said it was awful, even tho he had the window open and she didn't feel able to say anything. I WAS FUCKING LIVID! with him and for mil not stopping him. I think if there was a ban, at least the kids and her might have been able to use that as a reference and feel backed up by science and the law.

When I opened their suitcase, guess what all their clothes smelled of (which had been freshly laundered by mil)?

I am all for it, it really is a child protection issue.

I do think again it is a child protection issue when adults smoke in a house with children. I don't understand how they justify opening a window when in the house or standing by the door either.

I don't agree with smoking in cars with children. However I would not legislate against it. I think it would be near impossible to police, too costly to enforce and entail a massive amount of data entry somewhere.

IMO its unlikely that modern parents don't know the dangers of passive smoking. Let parents set their own moral compass.

My Dad smoked heavily when I was growing up. I constantly had severe earaches. The car interiors were always stained yellow and car travel made me feel sick. The rows we had were epic. He gave up smoking at 40. He died of lung cancer at 70. But I defend his right to choose. A fag in the car on a 6 hour journey going on holiday with a bored kid doing the are we nearly there yet, back in the day when there were no rear seat belts probably brought his stress level down and therefore safer.

Final point. DH has a company car which is deemed company premises. No employee is allowed to smoke on company premises. So to smoke in the car, would be a violation of his terms of employment. DH doesn't smoke anyway but if he did he would already be banned IYSWIM.

I know it was a different age when I were a lass :), but I was subjected to in-car smoke from my DF's pipe for years as a young child. I hate think what it did to me and I'm a lifelong non-smoker mostly because of that bloody pipe.

It made me car-sick, I used to beg him to open the window nearly every car journey. They never once realised that I didn't actually get motion sick, it was simply my system trying to reject the smoke.

I would ban it tomorrow in cars with more than one occupant.

Sasha well done for not smoking near your DC. You do realise however that you still may force them to watch you die a horrible death before the age of 50? That won't be too nice for them. Perhaps they hope that you will live to see their own children, but you have much less chance of that as a smoker. See earlier posters. Half of smokers will die a smoking related death. Half of those will die before they are 50. Please think about whether your enjoyment of cigarettes outweighs that future for your children. I bet it doesn't

moonbells Same. I am also life long car sick. I would cycle/take the train/walk rather than be a passenger in a car / taxi / coach.

I don't think the ban will make any difference really.

I can't understand that any adult would think it ok to smoke with children in the car. If you must smoke do it away from your children.

Oh FFs Prof plum. Smoking is an addiction. Guilt and fear are not the best tools to quit with. In fact, just reading what you wrote made me want a fag.

ProfPlum Yes, that is all smokers need to quit. In fact, we hadn't realised it before. Thank you for pointing it out! I thought it was making me healthier...

I would be in favor of a ban. My brother and I both had horrible asthma when we were small - hospitalized quite a few times for it. Our paediatrician had to tell my mother that my father's smoking in the house was making our asthma worse, because they just plain didn't know better. As smart as my parents are, smoking was a normal part of life for the two of them, and it did not occur to them that the cigarette smoke might be the cause of their kids' lung problems until years after we were diagnosed. I wish the paediatrician had mentioned the car as well, because my dad smoked in the car until the day he quit, when I was 11 years old. He always smoked with his window opened a bit, but the wind from an open driver's side window blows towards the back of the vehicle, where the kids sit.

Its way over due IMHO

I think it is a road safety issue. Driving while phoning is as bad as driving drunk for increasing risks of accidents. Smoking while driving is certainly as bad as eating while driving and probably worse when you consider the fire possibilities. So it should be banned on that basis.

I wish they would just ban smoking full stop but that will never happen, so anything that helps protect everyone from someone else's less than sensible choices is good.

Smoking in a car with a child is just not on.

I have asthma as a direct result of having to move in with a relative and their partner who smoked about 20 a day each. My Grandmother is dead from cancer due to living with her husband who smoked. He died 30 years prematurely due to smoking.

I get annoyed at all the it is my right to smoke shit. Yes it is but my right to breath clean air does not make you ill. Your right to smoke could.

I think this is a great idea, but how will it be enforced.... Very hard one I would imagine and will the police bother as they have lots of other more important crimes to solve....

The Police have limited resources.

Which crime would you like to see them STOP dealing with to leave them the resources to have traffic officers following mums around the whole time?

Stupid idea.

I support the ban. Smoking is a disgusting habit.

I also think that they should ban smoking when driving at all times. Your only task should be driving the car safely, not doing something else at the same time.

It is a good idea and 70% pf people support the ban.
As for enforcement I am sure lots of us will be more than happy to knock on car windows when the car is not moving and point to shame these people into stopping.
Children will also be able to video their parents on their phone and upload it to youtube to shame them too.

TalkinPeace- I'd imagine it'd be enforced by the officers already out on traffic patrol. There will already be dedicated traffic officers who are on standby to deal with RTAs, monitoring for driving offences such as dangerous driving/ speeding/ drunk driving, checking roadworthiness /insurance/ vehicle duty/ seatbelts/ phone use- it'll be one more thing that these officers would check for. If a police force already has a traffic/roads team, then they'll use the existing structure- I doubt anyone thinks they'll be pulling officers away from armed response/ DV team/ CID duties to follow potential smokers around.

Speaking of seatbelts, I seem to remember the same arguments about non-enforceability and civil liberties when that law came in...