ASH Wales welcomes today’s Welsh Government announcement to prohibit smoking in cars with children in Wales, the ban will come into force from October 2015.
In Wales, 15% of children aged 10 and 11 (and 32% of children of smokers) are exposed to second-hand smoke in family cars. Legislation is likely to significantly reduce the levels of exposure; when seatbelt laws were introduced in 1983 compliance rates jumped from 25% to over 90%.
There is already widespread public support for smokefree cars when children are present. A poll conducted in March by YouGov for ASH Wales found that 79% of Welsh adults, including 66% of smokers, agreed that smoking should be prohibited in cars that are carrying children younger than 18 years of age.
