Needless to say, tobacco is harmful for adults who smoke, and so is indirectly for children exposed to smoke who become passive smokers. But unlike adults, children do not choose to smoke. That's why I think all the places where there are children, including cars with children should be smoke free.
The European Parliament has approved a report years ago to ban smoking in playgrounds and private transport vehicles in the presence of minors and now it is the British Medical College that asks the government for a law that prohibits smoking in public places and in private cars where there are children.
While the car is a private space, as well as the home, where everyone does what they want, smoking parents have a responsibility to protect their children from what may threaten their health such as tobacco.
There are many children who get sick from tobacco. We know the data of Great Britain, which we can take as an example. Each year, tobacco smoke causes 20,000 respiratory infections in children, 22,000 cases of asthma, 200 bacterial meningitis and 40 sudden death, among other related ailments such as otitis and hyperactivity.
I am not a smoker (I have been) and I hate cigarette smoke, so a priori it is easy for me to agree that smoking is prohibited in cars where children go. But that is not why I agree, because if it were, I would probably not smoke in the car (as I did not before) or with or without my daughters on board, nor inside the house.
I subscribe to cars with children, no smoke because it seems to me a total irresponsibility that parents smoke in the presence of their children. In addition to setting a bad example (in a house where tobacco is common, children are more likely to be adult smokers) they are knowingly harming their health.
What do you think. Should smoking be banned in cars with children?
