THERE ARE ALREADY SEVERAL COUNTRIES THAT PROHIBIT SMOKING INSIDE THE CAR IN THE PRESENCE OF CHILDREN

There are already several European countries where you are prohibiting smoking in private vehicles, especially if children travel inside. Although at the moment this measure has not reached Spain, there are many voices that are raised asking for a law in this regard.

And it is that tobacco smoke inside a car can be up to 11 times more toxic than concentrated in any other space, which can cause serious health risks for children.

Doctors warn of the risks of smoking in the car in the presence of children

On the occasion of the 19th Smokeless Week, the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (semFYC) has conducted a survey of 9,000 people where more than half of the respondents have shown in favor of prohibiting smoking in private vehicles in the presence of minors.

Doctors have been warning for years about the problems that tobacco smoke causes in children when they smoke in their presence

Concentrated inside a car, tobacco smoke can be up to 11 times more toxic that of the bars and up to 23 times more than the one that can be concentrated in a house, since the toxins of the cigar together with the lack of ventilation of the vehicle, propitiate a highly harmful environment for the little ones.

Children, become passive smokers, experience itchy eyes, throat irritation, dizziness or nausea, not forgetting other problems such as childhood asthma, one of the main long-term effects that smoking would cause in the presence of minors.

Countries that have banned smoking in cars to protect minors

In 2015, the European Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) presented a road map where it proposed to reduce smoking and create smoke-free spaces to protect children in environments such as schools, homes and interiors of vehicles.

For several years, in countries like Australia, South Africa, Cyprus, several canadian regions Y american states Smoking is prohibited in cars. In October 2015, this measure also began to be applied in the United Kingdom and France.

The last European country to join this measure has been Ireland, where from January 1 of this year drivers or passengers who smoke in a car in which children travel will be penalized with up to 1,000 euros of fine.

In Spain smoking is allowed in the car

The debate on the need for this measure has also reached our country and in Catalonia it is already studying the possibility of sanctioning to those who light a cigarette in a car in which children travel.

Currently in Spain it is not prohibited to smoke in the car, although it is possible to be fined if the agent considers that this fact has distracted the driver.

And is that smoking in the car can cause accident, since there are many distractions that we can have because of tobacco: from turning the cigar on and off, to holding it or running the risk of burning with ash.

The approval of the Anti-Tobacco Law in our country was a great step for everyone, especially to protect the health of the little ones. But there is still a way to go and we should definitely take an example from other countries in this area.