Parents should be banned from smoking while driving with children

Parents should be banned from smoking while driving with children in their vehicle, the Australian Medical Association (WA) said yesterday.

Speaking on National Youth Tobacco Free Day, association President Dr Paul Skerritt said children had become the forgotten victims in the passive smoking debate and it was time the community acted to protect them.

"Much of the focus has been on the need to protect adults from tobacco smoke in enclosed public places like clubs and pubs," he said.

"But how much damage is done to the health of young children sitting in cars for several hours while their parents chain smoke?

"It's like being locked up in a mobile gas chamber."

Dr Skerritt said the State Government had already announced plans to restrict opportunities for children to buy cigarettes through tougher tobacco control laws banning point-of-sale advertising, increasing penalties for cigarette sales to youngsters and restricting vending machines to licensed premises.

"These are worthwhile initiatives, but there should be additional legislation protecting children from passive smoking when they're passengers in a car," he said.

"We have regulations to protect adults from taxi drivers who smoke; why not protect child passengers from being poisoned by adults who smoke?"

Dr Skerritt said each year nine children and nine adults died from passive smoking in WA and thousands more ended up in hospital with smoking-related illnesses.

"Cancer research figures show that in 1998/99 WA had 6934 bed-days attributed to passive smoking victims up to the age of 14," he said.

"Deaths and hospitalisation among these children resulted from tobacco abuse, SIDs, asthma, lower respiratory illnesses and fire and the cost to the community was $4.5 million.

"Many children may be able to avoid cigarette smoke in the home but, tragically, they can't escape if they're in a car with someone smoking."

Dr Skerritt said parents needed to understand just how toxic cigarette smoke was and the damage it could inflict on the health of a young child sitting in an enclosed place like a motor vehicle.

RAC Executive Manager for Member Advocacy David Moir said the RAC fully supported the AMA (WA) campaign.

"International studies show that smoking while driving increases your risk of being involved in a car crash," said Mr Moir.

"The RAC urges all drivers to put their families first by resisting the urge to light up when they are behind the wheel."