Plaid Cymru AM, Lindsay Whittle will today (Tuesday) press the case for a ban on adults smoking in cars carrying children.
The South Wales East AM has tabled a question to the First Minister pressing him to spell out the impact Welsh Government policy has had on reducing the numbers of adults smoking in cars where children are carried as passengers.
The policy formulated in 2011 aims to find out whether the prevalence of smoking in cars carrying children will show a reduction through publicity.
Lindsay Whittle said:
“The British Lung Foundation is clear that the effect on children of passive smoking in a confined area such as a car or van is very harmful. BHF said that four out of five people think smoking should be banned in cars carrying children but 22% of people still allow smoking in cars and 1 in 5 children are exposed to second-hand smoke in cars.”
Lindsay Whittle will remind the First Minister that it was a Labour MP Alex Cunningham, who proposed such a ban in a Private Member’s Bill in Westminster two years ago. In 2012, the House of Lords also approved a Peer’s Bill to make offenders liable for a £60 fine or attendance at a smoke awareness course.
“The only opposition to a ban is the old chestnut of encroaching on personal freedom. That is a Tory mantra that puts the so-called rights of adults before the rights of children to avoid damage to their health,” added Lindsay Whittle.
He will also highlight that a ban already operates in several parts of the USA, Canada and Australia. “In Wales we’ve waited two years and the situation is now no better than it was. It’s now time to put children’s health and well-being before party politics and impose a ban,” added Lindsay Whittle.
