Ban smoking in cars, says British Medical Association

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by Taf

You see reports all the time of a self-employed person being fined for smoking in their own van, a van no-one else has access too. A guy recently got fined for not displaying a no smoking sign in his own van!

A lot of legislation over the past few years seems to be the result of bored lobbyists, lefty loonies or similar. Fiddling around the edges instead of solving the country's real problems.

This happened to a self employed gardner I know the day after the smoking ban was introduced.

A policeman stopped him for it. They'll then have the cheek to say they are undermanned, short of resources and expect the help of the public.

---------- Post added at 00:50 ---------- Previous post was at 00:49 ----------

Originally Posted by martyh

What happens when one smoker is 19yrs and one smoker is 17rs ? This legislation is typical of populist legislation the various governments tend to introduce lately ,it appeals to a minority but is so full of holes it doesn't work .

Incidentally in Scotland it is illegal to smoke,be in possession of and sell tobacco products to under 18's

In England and Wales it is only illegal to sell tobacco products to under 18's ,why the massive differences in legislation ? Prior to 2007 the minimum age to buy and consume tobacco was 16yrs ,why did the then Labour government remove the age restriction to smoke ?

See post 165. I can't see anything to prevent a 'child' under 18 smoking in a car with someone over 18 present.

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

This happened to a self employed gardner I know the day after the smoking ban was introduced.

A policeman stopped him for it. They'll then have the cheek to say they are undermanned, short of resources and expect the help of the public.

.

That's because it's classed as smoking in the workplace and you can't really criticize the police for enforcing a law ,no matter how ludicrous you think that law is .

See post 165. I can't see anything to prevent a 'child' under 18 smoking in a car with someone over 18 present

I meant that if a person over 18 is smoking in the presence of an under 18yr old who is also smoking

The question doesn't arise in Scotland, where the legal smoking age was lifted to 18 in 2007.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by martyh

That's because it's classed as smoking in the workplace and you can't really criticize the police for enforcing a law ,no matter how ludicrous you think that law is .

I meant that if a person over 18 is smoking in the presence of an under 18yr old who is also smoking

It's a question of prioritising more important matters IMO, especially when they are ignoring intelligence received about suspected internet paedophiles and sending out DIY fingerprint kits to victims of burglary due to "a lack of resources".

From the point of view of this new legislation, I don't think it would matter if the under 18 year old was smoking, the over 18 year old would still be committing an offence.

However, from what I've read, it's more or less being ignored by the police and only one person has been prosecuted thus far, so nothing is likely to happen in practice.

So an adult is stopped for smoking on his own in his own van, yet children who are forced to sit in a metal box full of smoke are ignored.

There was a joke going round Facebook that said 'the law of unintended consequences', where a child was stood outside in the rain whilst her dad had a cig in his car