Bedford Driving Lessons

Children’s health is at risk, says report from Royal College of Physicians. Smoking should be banned in cars and parks to protect children, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) says today. Millions of children are exposed to second-hand smoke at home, which is a major hazard to their health, and reducing the level of exposure should be a priority. Although most cars are occupied by adults, it would be impractical to apply the ban only to cars carrying children, the college says. In a major new report on the impact of passive smoking on children, the RCP says it is time to capitalise on the gains achieved by the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces, imposed in England in July 2007. Experience from other countries shows extending the ban to a wide range of public spaces, including playgrounds and beaches, can be “popular and successful”, it says. Passive smoking is responsible for a huge burden of disease on children, including one in five of all cot deaths, 200 cases of meningitis, 22,000 cases of asthma, and 120,000 middle-ear infections a year. An estimated two million children are exposed to tobacco smoke at home. A ban on smoking in cars is necessary because the confined space increases the level of exposure and the harm caused. Smoking should also be banned in places such as parks, stricter penalties should be imposed on shops that sell cigarettes to children, and the price of tobacco should be increased, the report says. More