New legislation, led by the Committee for Health & Social Care come into effect today, 1 November 2024, making smoking in a car transporting anyone under 18 an offence.
On 23 October 2024, 32 deputies voted to approve legislation to ban smoking in vehicles with children.
Anyone found doing so will now receive a fixed penalty notice of £125, which is reduced to £115 if paid within seven days.
Director of Public Health Dr Nicola Brink says the law protects young people, who have no control over their environment.
"Second-hand smoke inside cars is particularly dangerous because the concentration of cancerous toxins is often greater than in any other micro-environment.
Exposure can lead to a variety of health conditions, things like chest infections for example bronchitis and middle ear disease, severe asthma, Meningococcal disease and sudden infant death syndrome.
Legislative measures to create smoke-free environments for children and young people not only protects their health but will also reduce the likelihood that they will take up smoking themselves.”
She explains how it will be policed:
"It will be like when seatbelts were introduced in cars, the police didn't drive around the island looking for people not wearing seatbelts but of course, they did stop someone and saw them not using a seatbelt, and that will be the same as cars carrying children with someone smoking"
Exposing under-18s to second-hand smoke in a vehicle has been illegal in England and Wales since 2015.
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