Ban the car and not the smoker
Ireland is one step closer to a ban on smoking near children in cars
and the Bully State rolls inexorably on.
I have a few points to make on this one.
The first and probably the most important is that it is another Nanny State law which is completely unnecessary. Drivers smoking with children present is not a problem, because it rarely happens. In an observational study carried out in 2012 by University College Dublin, out of 2,230 cars, eight adult passengers and just one child were observed as being exposed to a smoking adult driver [my emphasis]. The vast majority of drivers donât smoke in front of a child passenger and even for the tiny minority who do, I can guarantee the windows were open. So where is the problem?
It is unworkable. How are the police supposed to know if Iâm smoking in the car with a child in the back? Most children arenât visible to the casual observer unless the car is stationary and the observer is close to the car. Therefore the only way this law can be enforced is to set up road-blocks to examine each and every car. Even then the driver would have to have a cigarette lit and in their hand, where most drivers would stab the fag before the road-block and claim that any residual smell of smoke was from before the child was in the car.
A child in a car is being exposed to high levels of carcinogens anyway. The very act of being in a vehicle being driven on the roads is a hazard to health, as the atmosphere is full of known carcinogens â exhaust fumes.
I am going to make a little prediction here.
The Anti-Smokers know very well that the law in unenforceable, and I can guarantee that they will soon claim that the only way to enforce the ban is to ban all smoking in all cars whether there are children present or not. This is just another step in their aim to make smoking virtually impossible anywhere. Ideally they would like to ban smoking in homes as well, but they know that is impossible as it is unobservable, so they go for the next best thing which is a ban in private property which is visible.
My car is my property, not the stateâs. My Grandchildren are my concern, not the stateâs. If they think they can dictate how I behave in front of my Grandchildren, they can go suck on my exhaust pipe.
I wish they would get on hit the accelerator up this banning of stuff they pretend they don't like. They have no comprehension the road they are on goes over a cliff.
I keep mine in the boot – that way, I can smoke and the buggers don't need seat belts either.
Tape their mouths and they won't even be detected at a road block. Clever!!
So, from what I have read, the age of "the child" is up until 18 years old, now as you probably know, most people start smoking from around age 12/13/14, so, they are going to fine a below 18 year old,who is seen smoking in the car,for causing harm, to themselves!!!!, now that makes tons of sense.
Welcome Elwyn! Indeed, you can legally drive a car at 17 here, but have to be 18 to [legally] smoke. So a 17 year old can be done for smoking while underage and for driving a vehicle and smoking while a child [himself] is present. He is literally being protected from himself. Insane.