New York City Councilman James Gennaro said Thursday that he will introduce a bill next week aimed at banning smoking in cars carrying children under the age of 18.
Gennaro, a Queens Democrat, said that under the legislation, New York police would enforce the measure, and smokers who are caught would face a 100-dollar fine.
"Often children cannot communicate if they are too young, or even if they are little older," said Gennaro. "They do not communicate the fact that they are uncomfortable to the presence of cigarette smoke in a car, and this bill will communicate for them."
Gennaro cited broad statistics that show the danger of secondhand smoke and specific data that he said shows how cigarette smoke inside cars exposes passengers -- particularly children -- to concentrated levels of cigarette toxins.
An Environmental Protection Agency report said at least 40 carcinogens can be found in more than 4,000 cigarette substances and approximately 3,000 nonsmokers die each year from lung cancer due to secondhand smoke. Young children, particularly under 18 months of age, face an even more serious risk.
Councilman David Weprin plans to introduce a similar bill, that would be enforced for children younger than 16.
A similar ban was passed in Rockland County, N.Y., just two months ago.
Two states -- Arkansas and Louisiana -- have already passed laws that ban smoking in cars with passengers 6 years old or younger and 60 pounds or lighter. Many other states are considering similar policies, including Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Source: Xinhua
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