Health sector news

Calls to ban smoking in cars with children

19/6/2009
According to the new head of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, there should be a law banning adults from smoking in cars in which children are travelling. In a BBC News website Scrubbing Up column, Professor Terence Stephenson said "You can't inflict [smoking] on your colleagues any more. Why should we treat our children's health as a lower priority?".

Professor Stephenson points out said California, South Australia and Cyprus have already successfully introduced such legislation. And he said second-hand smoke had been linked to asthma, chest infections and ear problems in children.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of anti-smoking charity ASH, backed a complete ban on smoking in vehicles. "Cars are small tin boxes with not much air in them. Smoking just one cigarette, even with the window open, creates a greater concentration of second-hand smoke than a whole evening's smoking in a pub or a bar."

But Neil Rafferty, a spokesman for the pro-smokers' rights group Forest, said: "We don't think that children should be exposed to smoke in a car but a ban would be a waste of police and court time. Would it be OK if you opened the sunroof or a window while smoking? It's an impractical suggestion."

A spokesman for the Department of Health said it would review whether current anti-smoking laws should be extended. He added: "We would always strongly recommend that people do not smoke in cars, especially those used to transport children."