CAR-SMOKE BAN CONSULTATION LAUNCHED
Health campaigners have welcomed the launch of a consultation which brings a ban on smoking in cars carrying children a step closer.
Campaign group Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) said children who are passengers in cars where someone is smoking are exposed to dangerous levels of toxic fumes.
The charity urged ministers to bring in the regulation banning smoke in vehicles where children under the age of 18 are present, in England, before the next parliament.
The consultation on the initiative launched today and will run for six weeks.
"Second-hand smoke is a real and substantial threat to child health," the consultation document states.
"Today, many children in England report being exposed to second-hand smoke in private vehicles, including the family car.
"The aims of these proposed regulations on smoking in private vehicles carrying children would be to: protect children from the health harms associated with exposure to second-hand smoke in private vehicles; encourage action by smokers to protect children from second-hand smoke; and in time, lead to a reduction in health conditions in children caused by exposure to second-hand smoke.
"The purpose of this consultation is to seek views on draft regulations before they are made."
In February, MPs voted in favour of legislation that could see the move brought forward under the Children and Families Act.
"Cars are small tin boxes where concentrations of tobacco smoke can reach dangerous levels very quickly," said Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Ash.
"As David Cameron himself has said, the time has come for it to be illegal to make children breathe in these toxic fumes. Laws stopping smoking in cars with children are popular with the public, with parliament and with children and we urge the Government to bring them into force before the next election."
