Smoking ban on cars carrying children comes into force

Regulations 2015, which protects children from the effects of tobacco will see the driver and any smoker fined £50 ($76) if they have someone under 18 years old in the auto, according to a report by Daily Mail.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said this week the force would “be following the guidance issued and acting upon the new legislation and enforcing when reasonable and necessary”, but further cuts to police budgets of between 25 and 40 per cent are expected in coming months, leading to fears of reduced policing capability on the roads.

The Police Federation – which represents rank and file officers – has said the new law, which makes it illegal to smoke in vehicle with anyone aged under 18 present, will add an unnecessary extra layer of bureaucracy for already hard-pressed officers to deal with.

Health advocates were quick to hail the measure.

The ban was imposed after it was noted that second-hand smoke in vehicles have reached about 100 time above safety guidelines. According to them, it is the most important measure since a ban on smoking in workplaces in 2007.

“Today is truly a cause for celebration for all those who care about protecting the health of generations to come”, said Penny Woods, chief of the British Lung Foundation. In Northern Ireland, they’re going to see how everyone else gets on with the new law first, before doing anything. This tested the levels of unsafe chemicals (fine particles known as PM2.5) to which children can be exposed in the back seat of a auto when a driver is smoking. Clark argued. “The authorities, especially the police, must have better things to do”.

“The public needs to decide what it is that they want their police service to do because we are at breaking point”, he said.

A recent survey revealed that ending smoking in cars with children is supported by 85% of adults in the East of England households (ASH YouGov Smokefree GB Survey 2015).

“Ultimately, what we are looking for is that people change their behavior”, says Dr. Gina Radford, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England.

“After years of campaigning by organisations and individuals for this change in the law, hundreds of thousands of children will now finally be protected from the harms of second-hand smoke”.