NEWS: News.com.au - 16/11/2006 'Bill to ban smoking in cars with kids'

Bill to ban smoking in cars with kids
By Tim Dornin
November 16, 2006 04:45pm

SOUTH Australian motorists are set to become the first in Australia to face fines if they smoke in a car when a child is a passenger.

Laws to introduce a $75 on-the-spot penalty were introduced into state Parliament today and were hailed by anti-smoking groups.

No other state has passed such legislation, although Tasmania is considering a similar move.

Under the new laws police will have the power to issue an on-the-spot fine of $75 to a anyone smoking in a private car when a child under 16 is present.

But if the penalty is challenged in court, the fine could jump to up to $200.

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Minister Gail Gago said the Government believed the ban had strong community support.

"Children spend many hours in cars each week and secondhand smoke in a vehicle can be more than 20 times more toxic than in a house," she said.

"Cars are contained spaces with low ceilings and toxic air particles, including carbon monoxide are concentrated at the head height of children."

Anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health Australia (ASH) said there was strong evidence from independent research to show that children could be exposed to dangerous levels of secondhand smoke in cars.

It said smoking in cars also was a safety hazard to all people, posing a fire risk and serving to distract drivers.

"I just shudder when I see a car with a little baby in the back and people smoking," said ASH spokesman Stafford Sanders.

Mr Sanders said ASH believed, if passed, the measures would become largely self-regulating given the strength of community support.

At present many people were smoking without thinking about their actions, he said.

Introducing these laws would just give them cause to think about what they are doing.

Ms Gago said most children had no choice about travelling in cars and could not even move away from secondhand smoke.

"Passive smoking can cause a whole range of serious illnesses, including bronchitis, pneumonia, chest infections, lung cancer and cardiovascular disease," she said.

"About eight per cent of new asthma cases in children are attributable to passive smoking."

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TheYellowDart said:

You'll note hebb22 that this only applies if a person under 16 year old is also present in the vehicle. You would still be free to smoke yourself into oblivion if no kids were around.

While I think the intentions behind this law are good I can't see effective enforcement of this occuring and I also find it a little disturbing how much control over our lives the government is getting.

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zaineaol.nu said:

good on them, damn smokers should all hurry up and fuck off and die.

polluting the air we breathe in the street... outside our workplace doors - forced to breathe in toxic poisons as you walk in and out.... then wankers on the street lighting up on you....

smells rotten. is rotten... with all the education you are given at school why the hell would you even start... it baffles me.

I never started, ever. never tried it...

people are sheep.

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Driver smoking ban begins
NICK HENDERSON with AAP
May 31, 2007 11:30am

DRIVERS carrying passengers under 16 will no longer be allowed to smoke in cars in SA.

The ban came into effect today to coincide with World No Tobacco Day. Anyone flouting the ban will be hit with a $75 fine.

Announcing the start of the ban, Substance Abuse Minister Gail Gago said: “Children can spend many hours in cars each week and often do not have a choice when it comes to travelling with smokers.”

Quit SA has supported the move, saying it is a step in the right direction.

Meanwhile, a new new quit smoking campaign will hit television screens tonight, explaining how smoking can lead to a stroke.

Due to the explicit nature of the surgical procedure depicted the campaign has an M rating, making it the first quit smoking message televised in Australia that cannot be shown at specific times due to its confronting nature.

Acting Director of Quit, Ms Suzie Stillman, was unapologetic about the uncompromising scenes shown in the campaign launched in conjunction with World No Tobacco Day.

"There is a desperate need to convey to smokers the potentially devastating health consequences of tobacco use, and we shouldn't sanitise this message," she said.

"This campaign might not be easy to watch but the health effects of smoking are rarely pretty. This is an accurate portrayal of one of the many disturbing health consequences of smoking, and smokers are entitled to know the truth."

Mr Mark Westcott, a vascular surgeon at St Vincent's who features in the advertisement, said the surgical procedure featured in the campaign is a carotid endarterectomy, which is undertaken to reduce the risk of stroke.

"Someone would need to have this type of surgery if they have been found to have a narrowing or blockage in the artery in their neck. The operation clears out blockages from the artery in the neck that might otherwise break off and lodge in the brain," he said.

"Smoking doubles the risk of most arterial disease and causes patients to present earlier in life, sometimes decades earlier. Smoking also trebles the risk of complications following vascular surgery."

The concept for the media campaign was tested with smokers of all ages and from different backgrounds. The group discussions indicated that participants had only limited knowledge about stroke, especially in terms of the cause and development, and especially amongst the younger smokers.

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Smoking ban sought in cars
Cameron Houston
July 25, 2007

ALMOST 90 per cent of Victorian smokers think cigarettes should be banned in cars when children are present, with the practice about to become the next frontier for anti-tobacco body Quit Victoria.

A Cancer Council Victoria survey of almost 3000 smokers, reformed smokers and those who had never smoked also revealed that less than 5 per cent of all respondents thought it was acceptable to smoke in a vehicle with children.

Quit Victoria acting director Suzie Stillman said the Bracks Government needed to respond to overwhelming community support for the ban, combined with mounting evidence that the impact of second-hand smoke was much greater on children's respiratory health.

"Children and babies are unable to escape from the poisons contained in cigarette smoke when confined in a car with a smoker, and they are particularly susceptible to illnesses such as pneumonia, middle ear infection and asthma attacks," Ms Stillman said.

She said a ban would send a clear message about the dangers of second-hand smoke and also help "de-normalise" smoking in the eyes of children.

Royal Children's Hospital professor of respiratory medicine Colin Robertson said children under the age of five were at greatest risk from environmental tobacco smoke.

He said tobacco smoke was a main irritant, which contributed to higher rates of asthma in young children.

The South Australian Government last year introduced a ban on smoking in cars when children were present, and the Queensland and Tasmania governments are expected to make a similar move.

But a spokesman for Health Minister Bronwyn Pike said there were no imminent plans for a ban in Victoria.

"Earlier this month we banned smoking in Victoria's pubs and clubs and we will concentrate on the implementation of these laws before considering any further steps to reduce the prevalence of smoking," he said.

Federal Minister for Ageing Christopher Pyne, who is responsible for the national drug and alcohol policy, urged the Victorian Government to follow South Australia's lead. "Someone under the age of 15 dies every week on average from a tobacco-related cause," he said.

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Parents nabbed for smoking in cars
July 30, 2007 09:56am

FOURTEEN on the spot fines have been issued to parents smoking in cars that contain their children since bans were introduced in South Australia two months ago.

Substance Abuse Minister Gail Gago said today the $75 fines and seven cautions were issued by police.

The new laws, the first of their kind in Australia, make it illegal to smoke in a car when a child under 16 is also present.

"It's not only disappointing that some drivers are disregarding the new law, but also placing at risk the health of children sitting next to them, or in the back seat, by smoking when they're behind the wheel," Ms Gago said.

"Passive smoking can be particularly harmful to children, increasing their risk of developing illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis and middle ear infections.

"Children can spend many hours in cars each week and often do not have a choice when it comes to travelling with smokers."

The laws on smoking in cars will be followed in November by a complete ban on smoking inside pubs, clubs and the Adelaide Casino.

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