General Chat

Thank goodness it was £60 when I was caught on a mobile phone. I had heard it was a bigger fine now.

As far as enforcement is concerned, what they appear to do in South Wales is have a purge for a day on a particular offence. Bring in police cars from all over South Wales and probably Avon, Somerset, Glos and Hereford too. One day they target safety belts, another mobile phones, and smoking with children will simply be yet another "target day" for them. Loads of people fined for same offence on same day and it must be very cost-effective for police coffers.

I just cannot get my head round why smoking is not more or less banned - is it to do with tax revenues? It is totally dangerous in cars - secondary smoke, lighted ciggies falling down your cleavage or slipping between your legs and warming your passion at 50-70 mph happens not that infrequently. And Fiona Phillips whittling on today on Daily Politics with Jo Cobourne about privacy in your own home and car. Since when?

well in that case they should up it to £200!!!!

I also think a smoking ban is a good idea, although I'm not sure how it could be enforced.

below are the penalties for using mobile phones (for Ann )

Penalties for using your phone while driving

You can get an automatic fixed penalty notice if you’re caught using a hand-held phone while driving or riding. You’ll get 3 penalty points on your licence and a fine of £100.

Your case could also go to court and you could be disqualified from driving or riding and get a maximum fine of £1,000. Drivers of buses or goods vehicles could get a maximum fine of £2,500.

New drivers

You’ll lose your licence if you get 6 or more penalty points within 2 years of passing your test.

When you can use a phone in your vehicle

If you’re the driver, you can only use your phone in a vehicle if you:

need to call 999 or 112 in an emergency and it’s unsafe or impractical to stop
are safely parked

Using hands-free devices when driving

You can use hands-free phones, sat navs and 2-way radios when you’re driving or riding. But if the police think you’re distracted and not in control of your vehicle you could still get stopped and penalised.

My opinion is and always will be that who ever is governing us will see £ signs.
HS2 jobs for the boys, housing estates on unsuitable land because someone somewhere is corrupt, we the tax paying general public never gain from such projects.

While they,re at it Why not take Action over the Gunge that comes out of Diesel engined Cars and Trucks, thats probably worse as everybody inhales it daily.**M**. :-(

Paula... that is all that needs to be said.. :-)

Smoking kills, Passive smoking kills. That is fact. That's all I want to say.

i don't think people were as aware then of the dangers of smoking as they are now.

I can remember visiting my father in hospital when i was small and he had a little silver coloured ashtray on his bedside cabinet as did some of the other men... my mother had to get special permission for me to be allowed on the ward because i was under 12...lol

There were times when the youngest who was born there had to be in the bar as she couldn't be left on her own upstairs....not often.....but it happened

Luckerly she is now 17 and did not take up the habit ( she is very anti so unlikely to now) unlike her sister

i can remember when i was small and my parents were often in the pub, there was a little room where wives could have a drink and the children were allowed.. the thing i remember most was my eyes stinging and it wasn't until i was older i realized it was the thick smokey atmosphere...

i did go on to be a smoker for a lot of years, i suppose i was addicted to the smoke from my parents, but have been free from the habit for a long time now...

I don't suppose you forced your children to be in the bar with the smoke jax.

Now that children have to be tied down when they are in a car there is no escape for them.

My father smoked and didn't give up until after I had left home. We had a car in 1947 when I was 6 but strangely I don't remember him smoking in the car. OH used to smoke when our children were young but don't remember him smoking in the car. Surely it is not necessary. When travelling back from the Lake District we stopped at motorway services and had our coffee from a flask. We saw a young woman roar into the car park, leap out, smoke half a cigarette, leap back in and roar off. She must have been desperate. Maybe it was a company car and no smoking allowed.

Used to hate it upstairs on the bus when people smoked. So much nicer now that it is banned on public transport. :-)

Although I am a smoker, I hated it as a child being forced to sit upstairs in a smoky bus for about an hour travelling to my grandparents.

My own children were subjected to smoke as they were brought up in a pub and it was difficult keeping them out of the bar area at times.

Of course smoking should be banned in a car with children.

It stinks and so will they.

have you noticed that most laws passed are to STOP you doing something........not many give you the right to do a particular action.......

(not counting the ancient ones of permission to graze your sheep on a local village green..........)lol

Under English law people's personal rights and freedoms have never extended to actions likely to cause pain and suffering to others. Over time parliament has, quite rightly, extended this concept and also added duties such as the requirement to get yr children educated and vaccinated.

Smoking has been banned from public transport, schools, the workplace and shops, places of entertainment for the reason of passive smoking. Up until now children, utterly unable to choose or control their environment, have had to take their chances.

At last MPs are about to do something useful and grasp the nettle at least for travel by car. Cancer is a long term possibility for children subjected to a smoky environment - all manner of bronchial problems in early childhood are a dead cert.

The law concerning young children not in car seats / riding in front does not carry points. It should. So should the new law.

Now, what is to be done about the effects of smoking on young people at home ???

i think there is proof that passive smoking can cause cancer, and that is what is happening to children in the confined space of a car.

I can't see how the government would make money from this as to implement the rule could be quite costly...

I got done outside Talbot Green last year for using mobile phone. £60, I think - and many others wsere caught in their sting - probably no one wants to admit it in case of violence by infuriated people.

My company soon after tightened up on mobile phone use so that you could not even take an emergency call hands free. I agree with them, and have never used a phone since.

Smoking in cars may be unhealthy - but it has got to be most dangerous thing you can do. In my smoking days, I dropped a lit cigarette in my lap at 70mph on a motorway. Can any poster suggest how smoking can be calming and acceptable whilst driving?

I think it is a ridiculous idea and simply another way of " government" to get money from us, all the years people have smoked in their own cars and there's no proof that it has affected anyone.
Am I the only one who sees £ signs where eyes should be?
I am a non smoker by the way.

i have seen policemen driving whist using a mobile phone..

I think the smoking ban should be implemented and a soon as possible.. :-)