BeTheChange
Moderator
- Messages
- 2,250
- Reaction score
- 219
- Gender
- Female
- Religion
- Islam
Brief overview
From 1 October 2015, private vehicles in England and Wales must be smokefree if they are enclosed, there is more than one person present and one of them is under 18.
It will be an offence:
for a person of any age to smoke in a private vehicle carrying someone under 18
for a driver (including a provisional driver) not to stop someone smoking in these circumstances
Penalties
The fixed penalty notice fine for both offences is £50. Somebody who commits both offences could get two fines. Private vehicles must be carrying more than one person to be smokefree so somebody who is 17 and smoking alone in a private vehicle won’t be committing an offence.
What is ‘an enclosed vehicle’?
The legislation covers any private vehicle enclosed wholly or partly by a roof. A convertible car, or coupe, with the roof completely down and stowed is not enclosed and so isn’t covered by the legislation. But a vehicle with a sunroof open is still enclosed and so is covered by the legislation. Sitting in the open doorway of an enclosed vehicle is covered by the legislation. The rules apply to motorhomes, campervans and caravans when they are being used as a vehicle but don’t apply when they are being used as accommodation.
The rules don’t apply to:
boats, ships and aircraft as they have their own rules
work vehicles and public transport already which are covered by smokefree legislation
Definition
The definition of smoking is set out in Section 1(2) of the Health Act 2006:
(a) “smoking” refers to smoking tobacco or anything which contains tobacco, or smoking
any other substance
It follows therefore that smoking includes the use of cigarettes, cigars and pipes, including waterpipes (shisha) as well as the use of herbal substances.
Enforcement
Enforcement of the new law will largely be by police officers who already monitor for a number of other offences committed in moving vehicles, such as the wearing of seat belts, and use of child safety seats and mobile phones. Officers will use their discretion to decide whether to issue a warning or a fixed penalty notice, or whether to refer an offence to court. Local authority enforcement officers will also support securing compliance with the legislation.
Why are the regulations needed?
Children are particularly vulnerable to secondhand smoke; they have smaller lungs, faster breathing and less developed immune systems, which make them more susceptible to respiratory and ear infections triggered by passive smoking.v This new law is not designed to turn smokers into criminals, but it is about protecting children from the avoidable dangers that tobacco smoke presents to their health and well-being.
Smoking near children can cause a range of respiratory illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis and reduced lung function. Passive smoking results in more than 165,000 new episodes of disease of all types among children, 300,000 primary care consultations, 9,500 hospital admissions and around 40 sudden infant deaths each year.
From 1 October 2015, private vehicles in England and Wales must be smokefree if they are enclosed, there is more than one person present and one of them is under 18.
It will be an offence:
for a person of any age to smoke in a private vehicle carrying someone under 18
for a driver (including a provisional driver) not to stop someone smoking in these circumstances
Penalties
The fixed penalty notice fine for both offences is £50. Somebody who commits both offences could get two fines. Private vehicles must be carrying more than one person to be smokefree so somebody who is 17 and smoking alone in a private vehicle won’t be committing an offence.
What is ‘an enclosed vehicle’?
The legislation covers any private vehicle enclosed wholly or partly by a roof. A convertible car, or coupe, with the roof completely down and stowed is not enclosed and so isn’t covered by the legislation. But a vehicle with a sunroof open is still enclosed and so is covered by the legislation. Sitting in the open doorway of an enclosed vehicle is covered by the legislation. The rules apply to motorhomes, campervans and caravans when they are being used as a vehicle but don’t apply when they are being used as accommodation.
The rules don’t apply to:
boats, ships and aircraft as they have their own rules
work vehicles and public transport already which are covered by smokefree legislation
Definition
The definition of smoking is set out in Section 1(2) of the Health Act 2006:
(a) “smoking” refers to smoking tobacco or anything which contains tobacco, or smoking
any other substance
It follows therefore that smoking includes the use of cigarettes, cigars and pipes, including waterpipes (shisha) as well as the use of herbal substances.
Enforcement
Enforcement of the new law will largely be by police officers who already monitor for a number of other offences committed in moving vehicles, such as the wearing of seat belts, and use of child safety seats and mobile phones. Officers will use their discretion to decide whether to issue a warning or a fixed penalty notice, or whether to refer an offence to court. Local authority enforcement officers will also support securing compliance with the legislation.
Why are the regulations needed?
Children are particularly vulnerable to secondhand smoke; they have smaller lungs, faster breathing and less developed immune systems, which make them more susceptible to respiratory and ear infections triggered by passive smoking.v This new law is not designed to turn smokers into criminals, but it is about protecting children from the avoidable dangers that tobacco smoke presents to their health and well-being.
Smoking near children can cause a range of respiratory illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis and reduced lung function. Passive smoking results in more than 165,000 new episodes of disease of all types among children, 300,000 primary care consultations, 9,500 hospital admissions and around 40 sudden infant deaths each year.
Last edited:
