Even smokers want to keep kids in cars safe from cigarette
toxins.
Image: iStockphoto

Latest research shows that 96 per cent of New Zealand smokers support a ban on smoking in cars carrying pre-school children.

The study, from the University of Otago, Wellington, surveyed almost 1400 smokers and appears in the New Zealand Medical Journal.

The lead author, Dr George Thomson says that, "Until now, politicians and officials have been hesitant about proposing such a ban, partly because they've thought public opinion would be divided. Smokers have been considered particularly likely to be opposed to a smokefree car law."

But he notes that the policymakers may not have known that there are already a number of such bans in place in Australian states, Canadian provinces and states in the USA. The survey results from overseas have all indicated high public support for such bans.

One of the University of Otago researchers, Associate Professor Richard Edwards, notes that investigations carried out in New Zealand and elsewhere show that smoking in cars, even with windows down, produces extremely high levels of toxic pollutants which are dangerous to health. These levels are far higher than WHO air quality guidelines for particulates in ambient air.

"This type of air pollution is particularly bad for the health of small, pre-school children, and they need to be protected. In previous research, we've found that because of the very limited space in cars, levels of particulate pollution are often far worse than in a smoky pub," he says

Project leader Dr Nick Wilson says this survey result indicates very strong support from smokers, both Maori and non-Maori, for protecting children from second-hand smoke in cars. Politicians now have a strong mandate from the very people thought most likely to oppose a smoking ban in cars.'