Doctors Call for Smoking Ban in Cars with Children

The idea of banning smoking in cars with children is not new in the United Kingdom, but this time, a report conducted by the British Lung Foundation emphasize the negative effects of cigarettes on kids traveling in a car. According to the research, no less than 86 percent of the children want adults to stop smoking in vehicles, while no less than 51 percent of the children of eight to 15 years old have already been exposed to smoke when inside a car.

What's worse is that smoking while driving can have a very dangerous impact on children, as the foundation claims that a cigarette can create a greater concentration of “second-hand smoke” than the smoke puffed by smokers during a whole evening in a pub.

“The number of children whose lungs are being damaged by adults lighting up when children are in the car is alarming. Today children across the UK have sent the Government a strong message. The Government can’t afford to ignore their plea for protection,” Dame Helena Shovelton, Chief Executive for the British Lung Foundation, said in a statement.

“We are calling on all children who want to put an end to passive smoking to add their voice to the BLF’s campaign by going to www.lunguk.org/childrenscharter.”

Not much can be done for the time being, but the organization has already started a campaign during which schools will ask children on their opinion, trying to emphasize the need of a law to ban smoking in cars.

Government officials are yet to comment on the topic, but we'll keep you up to date as soon as we're provided with more information.