Calif bans smoking in cars with kids

[beautiful_mess38]

Calif. bans smoking in cars with kids By STEVE LAWRENCE, Associated Press Writer
Thu Oct 11, 6:04 AM ET



SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California motorists will risk fines of up to $100 next year if they are caught smoking in cars with minors, making their state the third to protect children in vehicles from secondhand smoke.



Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday signed a bill that will make it an infraction to smoke in a vehicle if someone under age 18 is present. But the traffic stop would have to be made for another offense, such as speeding or an illegal turn, before the driver could be cited for smoking.

The ban, which takes effect Jan. 1, joins a string of smoking prohibitions adopted in California, including a ban on smoking in enclosed workplaces and within 25 feet of a playground.

A Harvard School of Public Health report issued last year said secondhand smoke in cars can be up to 10 times more of a health risk than secondhand smoke in a home.

"Protecting the health of our children is among government's highest responsibilities," said the bill's author, state Sen. Jenny Oropeza, a Democrat. "It is clear that increasing public awareness about the dangers of secondhand smoke is the right thing to do."

At least 20 states and a number of municipalities have considered limiting smoking in cars where minors are present. Arkansas now bans smoking in cars with children age 6 and younger, while Louisiana has limited it when children 13 and younger are in the vehicle. Maine lawmakers will take up the issue in January.

[Patagoniamaniac]

yeah less fatalities

[Yosemite_Wolf]

I love the idea.. but why do we need laws to ban activities that should be avoided by simple common sense??

[John @ 3300ft.]

I love the idea.. but why do we need laws to ban activities that should be avoided by simple common sense??
Nanny Government brought to us by the Democrat Party.
Arnold doesn't count. He's a RINO.

[beautiful_mess38]

I agree. Now a days with more education out there, you would think people wouldn't smoke in there cars with kids. I remember when I was kid and my dad lit up, I hated it.
Whats funny is when Popo comes over and smokes my youngest (7) is all over him about it. lol
We don't need a law, just plain ole common sense.

[SlimeMold]

I love the idea.. but why do we need laws to ban activities that should be avoided by simple common sense??

Why? Because they aren't avoided by simple common sense.

If people were smart enough to use common sense we would not need laws. Laws are the result of a society that is not wise enough to govern itself based on common sense.

And John @ 3300ft I would not refer to a law protecting the health of our children Nanny government, perhaps you do not care about the health of our children, but many more do. If a group of people are not intelligent enough to refrain from smoking in an enclosed space with their children it seems like the government should step in to let them know what they are doing is WRONG and because they lack common sense a law needs to be created and they should be fined for their lack of common sense. Or you can go on and support the endangerment of the health of our children, try to get rid of car seats maybe that will make you happy, seems like that would be one of your Nanny laws.

[jakobscalpel]

Exactly. Those are nanny laws. I'll happily support repealing them and risk the child endangerment. Doing otherwise says the government knows more than you do. This may be true for some but it isn't true for me. And this has nothing to do with Dems or Repubs. Both parties are guilty of this.

Why? Because they aren't avoided by simple common sense.

If people were smart enough to use common sense we would not need laws. Laws are the result of a society that is not wise enough to govern itself based on common sense.

And John @ 3300ft I would not refer to a law protecting the health of our children Nanny government, perhaps you do not care about the health of our children, but many more do. If a group of people are not intelligent enough to refrain from smoking in an enclosed space with their children it seems like the government should step in to let them know what they are doing is WRONG and because they lack common sense a law needs to be created and they should be fined for their lack of common sense. Or you can go on and support the endangerment of the health of our children, try to get rid of car seats maybe that will make you happy, seems like that would be one of your Nanny laws.

[SlimeMold]

Exactly. Those are nanny laws. I'll happily support repealing them and risk the child endangerment. Doing otherwise says the government knows more than you do. This may be true for some but it isn't true for me. And this has nothing to do with Dems or Repubs. Both parties are guilty of this.

By your poor definition Murder, Rape, Robbery, Assault are also Nanny Laws, we all (hopefully) know these crimes are wrong, but they are commited everyday. It would be wonderful if these laws weren't necessary, but people as a whole are not wise enough to act in a responsible manner. Therefore such laws must be made. If people were using common sense these laws would not be necessary. I feel sad that you would risk the life of a child over the government feeling a need to step in to protect that same life:(. I would prefer to wake up idiots that cannot see the danger by enacting a law to provide protection to those that cannot speak for themselves, than for you saying I know its wrong so everyone knows it is wrong. In many cases the government knows more than society as a whole, remember some people are smart, but society as a whole is not.

I love children and I want them to have every chance possible to live a healthy prosperous life, but by your reply YOU seem like you would let them die to make a political statement.:(

Many laws that have been created would not need to be on the books if people used common sense, but people as a whole do not use common sense, therefore laws need to be created, and many of these you would probably call nanny laws (speed limits, stop signs, drinking and driving, firing guns in residential areas...)

Until society begins using common sense I find a need for such laws, once society begins using common sense we can see about getting rid of these laws and possibly even certain levels of government, but I do not see that day coming.

[jjcheyenne]

I remember a couple of years ago, I was watching the cameras at the hospital. It was about 2:00 am or so. I saw a man carrying a child of about 3 or 4 years old. He put the child into his pick up. It was cold outside and kind of foggy. He got into the pickup with the windows up and lit a cigarette then drove off!!! The poor child had just left the hospital from a visit to the ER, and he drives off smoking with the child in the car. No wonder the child was sick!! I could not believe. I wrote a letter to the editor of the Fresno Bee about what I saw, and they published it. How could that man be so stupid???

[CatdaBrat]

I am glad that some kids will be protected, but I am sure that many people who smoked in the car with their kids in it, will continue to do so. If the health of their children was not enough incentive to stop doing it, making it against the law probably isn't, either. At least we will get a few fines now and then, but I think the smoking will continue as before.

It is against the law to do a LOT of stuff that does, indeed, happen every day, law or not. All we can do is gain some satisfaction that if and when caught, the perps will get some sort of punishment.