smoking
Eighty three per cent of smoking parents said they would back a ban too.
The BLF surveyed 1,020 parents on mumsnet.com. Over half of parents questioned were smokers or had smoked in the past. Five per cent of past smokers had smoked in the car with the window open when travelling with their kids. This figure rose to thirteen per cent amongst current smokers. More worryingly is that the same amount thought lighting up around their kids had no impact on their children when research shows the opposite.
Over half said they had exposed their child to second hand smoke and thirty nine per cent were concerned their kids would take up smoking themselves.
Dame Helena Shovelton, Chief Executive of the British Lung Foundation said "Parents are sending a clear message to the Government that smoking in cars with children under the age of 18 should be banned.
"Smoking just one cigarette, even with the car window open, creates a greater concentration of second-hand smoke than a whole evening's smoking in a pub or a bar.
"A ban on smoking in the car with children would prevent some of the 22,000 new cases each year of asthma, caused as a direct result of passive smoking.
"This overwhelming evidence and public support can no longer be ignored and as the only UK charity supporting everyone affected by lung disease, we are calling for this legislation".
The BLF has launched a national poster advertising campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of passive smoking in the car. The image pictures a young girl in a car being forced to smoke by an adult and the caption reads ‘When you smoke in the car, they smoke’.
A number of charities and medical organisations have pledged their support for the campaign including the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, The British Thoracic Society, No Smoking Day, ASH and QUIT.
Professor Terence Stephenson, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) said: "The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has recently led on the call to ban smoking in cars with children travelling in them.
"We should be making cars totally smoke-free if there are children travelling in them. Parents are sending out a strong message in this survey and the new government should act on this.
"Second-hand smoke has been found to be strongly linked to chest infections, asthma and ear problems in children and sudden infant death syndrome, or cot death.
"We strongly support the British Lung Foundation’s call to ban smoking in cars with children and young people under 18 travelling in them to ensure that we protect the health of children and young people."
Dan Tickle, Chief Executive of No Smoking Day said : There can be no denying the overwhelming evidence that passive smoking in any setting can be very harmful to children, which is why No Smoking Day fully supports the British Lung Foundation’s campaign to ban smoking in cars with children under the age of 18, and will continue to help thousands of parents to quit smoking each year.
Amanda Carmichael, Director of Operations at stop smoking charity QUIT®, said: "QUIT would advise any parents who usually smoke in their cars to make sure they have a packet of gum or mints on their journey to take the edge off any cravings for cigarettes. Parents who smoke shouldn’t panic, as there is support available to help them quit."
The British Thoracic Society said: 'The British Thoracic Society welcomes this Charter from the BLF and supports the call for legislation to protect children from the effects of passive smoking.
Our members working in paediatrics see patients every day in their clinics and on their hospital wards who are there because of the direct effects of second-hand tobacco smoke.
We are pleased to see that the unequivocal scientific evidence for more stringent measures to safeguard children are backed up by strong public support.'
To gather support for a ban on smoking in cars when children under 18 are passengers, the charity has launched a Government petition and hopes to collect over 50,000 signatures by the end of the year.
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