New call for a ban on smoking in cars

Oct 8 2008 The Journal

A NORTH East anti-smoking group last night backed the spirit of a report calling for a ban on people smoking in their cars while carrying children.

National lobbyist group Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) released the Beyond Smoking Kills report, in which it says the pollution caused by one cigarette in a car is as bad as a pub filled with smoke.

Ash director Deborah Arnott said: “It’s a serious health issue. Research from Canada shows if you smoke once in a car, you get the same pollution as you used to get at the end of an evening in a pub.

“The level of exposure you get in an enclosed vehicle is extremely high and it’s not at all good for your health.”

She said Ash was not calling for an immediate ban, but wanted an investigation into whether legislation should be introduced.

“We want a proper debate, not a knee-jerk reaction. What we need to do is engage people as to why smoking in cars is dangerous. It’s not just dangerous for children, it’s dangerous for adults as well.

“We do not call for a legislative ban on smoking in cars. Give smokers access to alternatives. What we’d like to see is if smokers are in the car and desperate, they chew some gum. We need education.”

Director of Fresh Smoke Free North East, Ailsa Rutter, confirmed the organisation had signed up to the report.

She said: “The report does not call for legislation banning people smoking in cars, but we would be encouraging people not to smoke around their children.

“It’s not necessarily legislation. I would like to think that we can get people changing through educating them and learning more about what we can do to change things.

“Health professionals do not fully understand the impact of secondhand smoke and they need to be well equipped to help parents. More than 17,000 kids are admitted to hospital because of the lethal substance, and we are fully behind this report. We were highlighted for the example of best practice we set and that’s something we want to continue.”

But Simon Clark, director of pro-tobacco group Forest, said that smokers were now facing a war and wanted an end to futther interference by the Government.

“We’re strongly against any further legislation on smoking in cars. We think parents should err on the side of caution when it comes to smoking around children, but to ban it would be a gross overreaction.

“The way we’re going, it will be illegal to smoke anywhere other than at home. Enough is enough.”

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Attack on liberty or affirmation of it?

THERE was a mixed reaction to the recommendation to ban smoking in cars yesterday among Tyneside shoppers.

Hazel Baldwin, 50, an officer manager from Hollydene, Kibblesworth, Gateshead, supported the idea, saying it encouraged copycat action among youngsters.

She said: “Your children are an extension of yourself and they do mimic what you do. Not only that, but there are health implications.”

However, Dave Bryce, 30, a father of one, of Woodhorn Road in Ashington, Northumberland, said the proposal was an infringement of his human rights.

He said: “I don’t smoke when I’m with my child and she knows it’s bad to smoke. It’s an attack on our civil liberties.” Donna Crompton, 31, of Fawdon, Newcastle, who works in sales, said: “I think the recommendations are good because smokers affect people in a closed environment.

“I don’t think people start smoking because of role models. At the end of the day, they will see people smoking anywhere they go, but secondhand smoke shouldn’t be forced on you.”