New laws will come into force on 1st October which will make it illegal to smoke in a car, or other vehicles, with any under 18s present. The key points of the new policy are outlined below:
- BOTH the driver and smoker could be fined £50.
- Law applies to 17 year olds and those with a provisional license
- Law doesn’t apply if the driver is 17 and alone in the car
- Law applies to any private vehicle’s enclosed wholly or partly by a roof
- Law applies even if the windows or sunroof are open, air conditioning is on or you’re sat in the vehicle’s open doorway.
- Law doesn’t apply to convertible cars with the roof fully down.
The government website states “Every time a child breathes in secondhand smoke, they breathe in thousands of chemicals. This puts them at risk of serious conditions including meningitis, cancer, bronchitis and pneumonia. It can also make asthma worse.”
For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/news/smoking-in-vehicles
