Photo: www.ad.nl
They’ve been discussing banning smoking in cars carrying children for quite a while now, but things are about to get as real as snow in the French Alps. Sure, the regulation concerns only motorists in England and Wales, but you never know how the future may turn out.
GEM Motoring - a road safety and breakdown recovery organization, based in the UK - has just announced they are fully supporting the government decision to ban smoking in cars that also have under-aged children. In case you haven’t heard, smoking in private vehicles when someone under 18 is present will be illegal from October 1st, 2015, and the law includes those aged 17 with a provisional driving license too.
Starting next month, those who don not comply, face fixed penalty fines of fixed penalty fines of £50 ($77) – with drivers at risk of being fined twice if they have failed to stop a passenger smoking and are smoking themselves. The new regulation may seem a little bit harsh, but according to health minister Jane Ellison, quoted by The Guardian, research has shown that around a third of children who are exposed to smoke in vehicles don’t feel able to ask the person to stop because they feel frightened or embarrassed.
Moreover, officials numbers show that about a third of children - 3 million - are exposed to smoke in vehicles, while approximately 200 children a week visit GPs because of the effect of second-hand smoke in cars.
GEM chief executive David Williams MBE comments:
“We see this as an excellent opportunity for all drivers to implement wider safety checks and ensure the risks their children face on road journeys are as low as possible. So as well as ensuring all children now travel in a smoke-free car, we encourage parents and carers to ensure that seat belts are always used – by every occupant on every journey – and that any child safety restraints in use are in good working condition and comply with the law.”
Starting next month, those who don not comply, face fixed penalty fines of fixed penalty fines of £50 ($77) – with drivers at risk of being fined twice if they have failed to stop a passenger smoking and are smoking themselves. The new regulation may seem a little bit harsh, but according to health minister Jane Ellison, quoted by The Guardian, research has shown that around a third of children who are exposed to smoke in vehicles don’t feel able to ask the person to stop because they feel frightened or embarrassed.
Moreover, officials numbers show that about a third of children - 3 million - are exposed to smoke in vehicles, while approximately 200 children a week visit GPs because of the effect of second-hand smoke in cars.
GEM chief executive David Williams MBE comments:
“We see this as an excellent opportunity for all drivers to implement wider safety checks and ensure the risks their children face on road journeys are as low as possible. So as well as ensuring all children now travel in a smoke-free car, we encourage parents and carers to ensure that seat belts are always used – by every occupant on every journey – and that any child safety restraints in use are in good working condition and comply with the law.”
Google News