Smoking Hot Point

As of 1 July, it is illegal in NSW to smoke in a car with children 16 years and under. I’m not sure why they had to make it a legal issue. I would have thought the dangers of second hand smoke would be pretty obvious to people by now, particularly in a very confined space, like a car. I guess kids can’t always speak up for themselves, so it takes the legal stick to smack some sense into parents and carers.

It doesn’t matter if you’re the driver or a passenger you will get slapped with a $250 fine if you get caught. But is this enough of a deterrent? I don’t think so. If you get caught talking on your mobile phone not hands free you get fined more than this and lose points. Surely it’s more dangerous to be going through a bag or glove box looking for your ciggies, then lighting it, smoking it and occasionally dodging the cinders floating from it than it is to talk on a mobile phone? At least with the mobile phone there are no proven health dangers to yourself or your passengers. Or is there????

Points for the government for introducing the law. They would have got double points from me if the fine was a serious deterrent.