UK: No Smoking With Kids in Cars
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It appears the British Government are poised to pass a law forbidding smoking in vehicles that contain children. On the face of it this makes perfect sense. Why should a child be exposed to the potentially lethal secondary smoke produced by the smoker?
As a smoker of over 40 years my initial reaction was ‘quite right too’. Although my wife and I have smoked since being young teens we never smoked around our daughter after her birth – nor did I smoke around my wife during pregnancy. After our daughter was born it was ‘just popping into the garden for a smoke’. If we went on any long car journeys we would light up enthusiastically once we’d pulled over for a coffee and got out of the car.
My initial enthusiastic support for this impending new law has started to wain though as I think it through.
Admittedly there will always be modern day Neanderthals who will cheerfully blow smoke into the eyes and nostrils of their offspring but, in general, they will be the sort of people who, frankly, shouldn’t be allowed to breed (that isn’t meant to sound like the Nazi’s by the way but I see people like that every day. Basically, thick and stupid and, as often as not, violent with the least provocation) but they are still in the minority.
The vast majority of parents, in my experience, are fully aware of the dangers of exposing their offspring to second hand smoke so, like my wife and I in the past, refrain from smoking in their homes and cars already. As a smoker I hate the smell of stale smoke in a house.
How long will it be before a law is passed forbidding smoking in your car period? How about a law banning smoking altogether for ‘health and safety’ reasons.
I don’t smoke in my ‘work car’ obviously, but both my wife and I do smoke in her car and will continue to do so regardless of any future law banning it. Why? Because, as long as the only people we are harming is ourselves it is our civil liberty to behave as we wish within the laws of the land. Changing, or creating, a law to criminalise law abiding citizens is not on.
The ‘Nanny State’ has been invading our privacy for too many years and must be fought against.
“SMOKING IN THE OPEN AIR? POLLUTION CRIME! 20 YEARS IN THE ISO-CUBES CITIZEN! I AM THE LAW!”
It could happen you know – and sooner than we think.
Got a light?
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What I wonder is how are they going to enforce this if it goes through. We have lots of non smoking places, beaches, bars but I still see people lighting up on beaches and no enforcement at all. Here, the bars have smoking areas now but sometimes you have to walk through a fog to get inside so many people at the doors. It’s gross smelling and a nasty habit but I’ve heard it’s harder to quit then heroin from friends of mine. One of the things I do not like to see is people throwing cigarette butts out their windows.
As I said, if people were only moderately considerate to others. But that wouldn’t be convenient, would it? After all, there is nothing nearly as important as personal convenience.
For years I have said that smoking around children is child abuse. By extension, smoking around adults without their permission is assault with a deadly weapon. Yes, I see how laws about this can lead to a slippery slope where eating fatty foods can be illegal as can consuming alcohol, etc.
If people were only moderately considerate of each other, none of that would be necessary. When you think about it, most laws are passed because people are NOT moderately considerate to each other. We all see evidence of that every day.
On another note (literally) that is a nice rendition of “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”, But the Platters do and always will own that number. The same as the Righteous Brothers will always own “Unchained Melody”.
Very true throughout old bean – I just like Bryan Ferry that’s all 😉