I flew into London at the weekend, into a white winter wonderland. The snow that blanketed the city overnight covered up most of the grime, and seemed to have made things a lot quieter as well.

It hasn’t dampened any of the noise about the British Medical Association’s call for the current ban on smoking in public places to be extended to smoking in cars.

It’s a call we should heed in South Africa. Just about the only thing that infuriates me more than seeing adults in cars with babies and young children on their laps in the front seats is seeing adults smoking in cars with children.

To me, that’s a form of child abuse, as research shows that the levels of toxins from smoke in a car can be up to 23 times higher than in a smoky bar.

It has always struck me as ridiculous that in South Africa we’ve made it illegal to talk on a mobile phone while driving, but not to smoke.

The rationale for the ban on mobile phone use is that it’s distracting and increases the risk of accidents. Smoking, to my mind, is even more distracting – taking cigarettes out the packets and lighting them. There’s also the extra distraction when the “cherry” falls off – that’s the smoker’s term for the hot end of a cigarette – and lands between the legs.

My former dedicated-smoker son-in-law David tells me: “I can’t tell you how many times I nearly had an accident chasing after the cherry, especially with Marlboro lights.”

If that doesn’t significantly increase the risk of an accident, I don’t know what does.

When babies are born, doctors tell smoking parents not to smoke in the house, and to have the equivalent of a smoking jacket – they must remove their “smoking clothes” before they hold the baby again. It’s because the nicotine and noxious fumes stick to clothing as well as furniture and walls.

If you doubt that, just get into a smoker’s empty car, and you’ll still notice the stench.

You would think it’s a no-brainer that people shouldn’t smoke in cars, especially when their passengers are children. After all, it’s one thing to allow adults to pollute their own lungs voluntarily with noxious chemicals in a confined space that makes the toxic exposure even more concentrated. It’s quite another to stand by and allow them to do that to defenceless children – their own or anyone else’s.

In Britain, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health is dithering. It says calling for an immediate ban could be “counterproductive” as “consensus is needed across society before taking such a step”.

The group suggests consultation on whether it would be better to have an outright ban on smoking in cars, or to raise awareness about the dangers through education campaigns.

There has also been the suggestion that smoking in cars with the windows open reduces the levels of toxins. That isn’t very helpful in South Africa, given our high rate of smash-and-grabs and hijackings.

The group also says policing a ban on smoking in cars would be “difficult”. That’s much certainly is true.

It would be so much easier if people would just instinctively do the right thing and protect children by not even thinking of lighting up in cars.

This blog post was amended for minor edits on February 7 2012 at 1.10pm

 

 

 

Tags: children, smoking