No more smoke filled, family car journeys in Northern Ireland

Austin Orr, our Policy and Public Affairs Officer in Northern Ireland writes about the upcoming ban on smoking in private cars with children which is an important step towards a legacy of better lung health in Northern Ireland.

Cause for Celebration

It's not often that the passing of a simple regulation is welcomed with such joy as was the case with the smoking in cars regulation which was put into effect in December last year.

The good news is that from 1 February 2022 it will be a criminal offence to smoke in a car when a child is present in Northern Ireland. With police then having the power to issue a £50 on-the-spot fine.

A Long Time Coming

It was back in 2016 that the primary legislation was passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly to protect children from the damage of smoking in cars. However, the small follow-up pieces of law that are needed to allow police to enforce that law were not passed by the time that the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed in January 2017.

With the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly up and running once again in early 2020 they were then faced with a backlog of work and then quickly thrust into dealing with COVID-19. The Executive sadly pushed this issue down the priority list.

My own smoke filled car journeys

I was one of the many kids across Northern Ireland who spent their childhood assured that a rolled-down car window would get rid of the cigarette smoke that often filled our family car. My parents, like many of my friend’s parents thought smoke would just waft away with the slightest breeze.

This was also a time when ‘smoking areas’ in restaurants were located right next to ‘non-smoking areas’. We might balk at the idea now, but there seemed little push-back then.

Thankfully societal attitudes have changed significantly across the UK and I am glad to report that both my parents, along with a good few aunts and uncles, have managed to give up smoking and have seen the benefits.

We’ll continue to fight for healthy lungs

At Asthma UK and The British Lung Foundation Northern Ireland we work with others across the charity sector to press for these much-needed laws to come in as quickly as possible. We knew that every day without protection children in Northern Ireland would have their lung health compromised at the most important point of their physical development.

The change in regulations might have come too late for many but there are thousands of children here who can look forward to better lung health from 1 February.

Enforcing the new regulations will take some time and there will be inevitable pushback from some drivers who feel wronged. However, from the experiences in the rest of the UK slowly the wider public will see the benefits of protecting children’s lungs this way

Follow us on twitter to hear more about our work in Northern Ireland.

Looking to quit smoking? Read more about how we can help and the health benefits here.

You can also visit the Public Health Authority’s Stop Smoking NI website here.