News
Should smoking in cars with children be banned?
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Lincoln Journal-Star
Smoke one cigarette in a car, and the air quality is 11 times worse than in a bar where smoking is allowed.
Even with the windows down and the cigarette held at the window, the air quality is comparable to that of a smoky bar, Dr. Ed Schneider told the local board of health at a meeting this month.
There is a big misconception that cracking the window, or even rolling it completely down, makes smoking in a car safe for children who are passengers, said Dave Ackerman, a Lincoln resident interested in smoking issues.
But even then, he told the Lincoln-Lancaster County Board of Health, smoke can pool in the back seat, where children often sit. An hour after a cigarette is smoked, the particulate matter is still at an unhealthy level in the back of a car, he said.
That’s why Ackerman and Schneider believe it should be against the law to smoke in a car with children.
The Health Board, however, has no plans to recommend that the city adopt such a law because of issues enforcing a ban that is not statewide.
Several health board members suggested that arresting parents for child abuse might be a better way to stop the practice.
“Why rewrite the law?" asked City Councilman Doug Emery, who is also a health board member. "Just arrest people for child abuse.
“We have the data. You are making your kids sick. That’s child abuse, so you can make a case.”
A few highly publicized arrests would educate parents, he said.
“There is a reason for public executions," Emery said. "It says, ‘Hey, don’t do that.’"
Several others on the board agreed that applying existing child abuse laws might be better than a new law and fines.
“There is precedence," said Dr. Michelle Petersen, a Lincoln pediatrician. "You can’t smoke in a car with a child who has a critical lung issue."
Doctors who know that parents of children with serious lung issues are smoking around them can report the parents to Child Protective Services, she said.
“You can fine someone until the cows come home," she said, but if they don’t understand the importance, they won’t follow the law.
“With a law, are we really helping kids, or is it just another way to tick off smokers?” Petersen asked.
But some board members said a state law banning smoking in cars when children are present is a good idea.
"Maybe I’m an optimist, but less-than-progressive states have passed this,” said Nebraska National Guard Lt. Col. Craig Strong, a board member.
At least six states -- Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine, Utah, California and Oregon -- have laws banning smoking in vehicles carrying children, although most are labeled secondary offenses, meaning a person has to be cited for another driving offense before the law can be applied.
It’s not likely that Lincoln will be leading the way with a city ordinance, the way it did in banning smoking in restaurants before the state took action.
“It’s very clear the staff does not believe any kind of local legislation is the way to go,” said Judy Halstead, director of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Department of Health.
Any policy decision needs to come at the state level, she said.
Board members said they would like to see research on the impact of such a ban, and they would like the Health Department to continue educating parents.
Almost 20 percent of adults in Lancaster County who smoke say they have rules against smoking inside their family vehicle, based on a 2012 survey, Halstead said.
