Society renews call for changes as Smoking in Cars Bill comes to debate

Drivers of cars in which someone is smoking where children are present, should be held criminally responsible along with the smoker themselves, the Law Society of Scotland said today.

With the Smoking Prohibition (Children in Motor Vehicles) (Scotland) Bill to be debated by MSPs at stage 1 today, the Society has backed the view of the Parliament’s Health & Sport Committee in its stage 1 report that the driver should be held liable as well as the smoker.

It also agrees with the recommendation for a statutory defence for the driver, to the effect that they took all reasonable steps to ensure the offence was not committed.

Professor Alison Britton of Glasgow Caledonian University, convener of the Society’s Health & Medical Law Committee commented: “We are supportive of the bill’s policy intent. The harmful effects of tobacco and smoking are undisputed, as well as the effects of secondhand smoke, particularly for children. We are pleased to see the Health & Sport Committee’s recommendation that the driver be held criminally responsible, as they are the ones who have control of the car and have a duty to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their passengers. This would also bring the bill into line with other legislation aimed at protecting children while travelling in cars, such as the duty to ensure a child under 14 is wearing a seatbelt.”

She added: “We very much welcome the recommendation that a statutory defence be included in the legislation. We would suggest that any such defence would have to include something to the effect that the driver had taken all reasonable steps to prevent the passenger from smoking, or that they also had reasonable cause to believe that all passengers were 18 or over.”

Neither the bill, nor the committee’s report, makes any detailed reference to electronic cigarettes, but Professor Britton called for the bill to be expressly extended to prohibit the use of e-cigarettes, "until such time more information becomes available as to the long term risks of them, in particular in relation to young people".