Britons forbid smoking in the car with children
Only a few decades ago, it was a normal picture on our streets: Mum drove the children around, smoking one cigarette at a time. The kids in the back seat probably had to endure it or much more bad.
Fortunately, very few parents are so unrestrained today, but still too many from the point of view of health experts. In the UK, there will be a new law from October 1, 2015 prohibiting smoking in the car when children are traveling. Anyone who reaches for a cigarette must expect a fifty-pound fine.
Governments in England, Scotland and Wales opted for this prohibition based on a study by the University of Aberdeen that shows how harmful passive smoking is in the car. The scientists showed that particulate matter in cars where smoking was used was three times higher than the limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO). The researchers also found that opening the car windows is not enough to significantly lower the toxins in the air.
Should Germany also introduce such a ban? Yes, my health expert. "We support this regulation and are convinced that one should also think about such a law in Germany," says Klaus Riddering, press spokesman of the German Childhood Cancer Foundation opposite the WAZ. And Andreas Stang, a professor at the University Hospital Essen in the field of cancer epidemiology, says: "Although it is a curtailment of the rights of freedom, but I am as a doctor for this restriction in favor of a better state of health of the people."
Other countries have also introduced such smoking bans to protect children, including some states of Australia, Canada, the US, Greece and Cyprus.
