Smoking in cars may face limit
While a handful of local Utah governments and health departments have either enacted or are proposing bans on smoking in public-owned spaces, Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, is sponsoring a bill that would prohibit smoking in a vehicle with a child younger than 5 years old.
SB14 makes smoking in a car with a minor passenger who must legally be strapped into a car safety seat a secondary offense, with a fine of $45 that can be waived if the driver enrolls in a smoking-cessation program.
McCoy said his bill, which was approved Tuesday in committee, is not anti-smoking legislation or an effort to impose more government control into people's lives.
"This is not saying you can't smoke in your car, but with a child present, that's going to be a problem," McCoy said, noting that a burning cigarette in a matter of a few seconds creates air pollutants 10 to 30 times the toxicity levels of a state Department of Health "red alert" burn warning.
Breathing in pollutants of a red alert day is equal to smoking five cigarettes, McCoy said. "Smoking inside a car is 10 to 30 times that."
Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, said he supports the bill but believes that police officers are as likely to look the other way as they are to cite a driver.
At least nine jurisdictions along the Wasatch Front want police to keep an eye out for smokers in such public-owned areas as parks, playgrounds, amphitheaters, fairgrounds, sports fields, swimming pools, skate parks and cemeteries.
A smoking ban in such places in Davis County, for example, started Jan. 1.
Others mulling similar measures include Holladay city, Weber State University, Salt Lake County and Weber-Morgan, Washington and Wasatch counties' boards of health.
Holladay's proposed ordinance points to a section of Utah code that defines second-hand smoke as a carcinogen and an Environmental Protection Agency statement that there is no acceptable level of exposure to such carcinogens.
It also lists a penalty for breaking the ordinance of not more than $25 for first-time offenders and charges police officers with issuing warnings and citations.
The proposed ordinance in Weber and Morgan would prohibit smoking in parks, playgrounds, recreational areas, golf courses, amphitheaters, fairgrounds, sport fields, amusement parks, swimming pools, plazas, gardens, cemeteries, bleachers, boweries, trails and skate parks.
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