English MEPs voted for a ban on smoking in vehicles with children. In the car, the toxins in smoke are 11 times more concentrated than in a bar.
After the famous “drink or drive, you have to choose”, the British will now have to make a new concession. That of giving up smoking when they take the car in the presence of children. MPs from across the Channel voted on Monday in favor of this measure, in a vote which is a first step towards its final adoption. The bill presented by the Labor opposition (Labor Party) was also adopted by a large majority (376 votes in favor, against 107) by the House of Commons, which thus followed suit in the House of Lords (upper house of Parliament).
Now, this vote empowers the Conservative government, but does not force it, to change the law to impose such a ban. Undoubtedly, the letter recently published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), in which hundreds of health professionals called on British MPs to vote for this ban, weighed heavily in this debate.
Smoke toxins 11 times more concentrated in the car than in a bar
“Passive exposure to tobacco smoke is a major cause of morbidity in children”, explained these experts in this open letter. Smoke inhalation damages the development of the lungs, and doctors at Royal College estimate that every year in the UK it is responsible for 300,000 GP visits, 9,500 hospital admissions, at least 200 cases of bacterial meningitis and finally at least 40 sudden infant deaths. ”
But for these experts, smoking in a car in the presence of children would be particularly harmful for them. Coordinated by Dr Nicholas Hopkinson, president of the group on chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases at the British Thoracic Society, the signatories recalled various public health data. First of all in a car, even with the windows open, smoke can remain in the ambient air for more than 2 and a half hours. But that’s not all, these specialists also recalled, that when you smoke in a vehicle, it creates a higher concentration of toxins than in a bar. Some studies have shown that this concentration can be up to 11 times higher.
Finally, according to a study presented in 2012 by the University of Aberdeen (Scotland), smoking in cars causes a level of pollution by fine particles three times higher than the maximum rate recommended by the WHO for indoor air quality. .
Aborted attempts in France
In France, Yannick Vaugrenard, socialist senator from Loire-Atlantique, proposed in March 2013 to ban smoking while driving in the presence of children. He wanted to put this provision into the Consumer Law. In vain.
“Your proposal comes up against the private nature of a car,” Marisol Touraine, the Minister of Health, replied last March during a plenary session in the Senate. To which Yannick Vaugrenard retorted: “Child protection does not stop at the door of each of us’ homes. To show that he was not alone in his crusade, the senator also published on this occasion a study of comparative legislation, available on the website of the Senate.
Because pending the final adoption of the law in Great Britain, similar laws however already exist in the world. This is the case in Canada, the United States, Australia, Cyprus and South Africa.
Finally, these restrictive measures against smoking also have another effect. That of reducing consumption. In New York, for example, all the measures adopted to restrict tobacco use have given spectacular results: the smoking rate of the inhabitants of the Big Apple rose from 21.5% in 2002 to 14.8% in 2011. The only downside, since 2007, the percentage of young New York smokers has remained unchanged at 8.5%.
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