Smoke Free Vehicles Legislation – Another way to keep our kids safe & healthy

May 31st is World No Tobacco Day - a good day for Northern Health to highlight the importance of the new Smoke Free Vehicles legislation in protecting the health and safety of northern residents and communities.

This legislation, introduced April 7, 2009 under the Motor Vehicle Act, prohibits smoking or holding lit tobacco in a motor vehicle when a person under the age of 16 is present.

This legislation supports Northern Health’s tobacco reduction strategy and contributes to health and safety in several ways: 

• It provides children with a smoke-free environment while in vehicles. Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of secondhand smoke because their lungs are still developing and are more easily damaged. They also breathe more quickly, causing them to inhale more of the harmful chemicals in secondhand smoke. Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at higher risk for bronchitis, pneumonia, ear infections and more frequent and severe asthma and allergy attacks. 

• It provides a tobacco free environment in vehicles which supports de-normalizing tobacco use for children, similar to covering up tobacco displays in stores and restricting smoking in public places. The less children see tobacco products and smoking in their day-to-day life, the less likely they are to start smoking or using other tobacco products.

• It supports safe driving habits. People who smoke and drive have a higher risk of motor vehicle injury and death.

Northern Health has teamed up with northern RCMP to help raise awareness and educate the public about the new rules. The NH tobacco reduction team has provided the RCMP with information that will be handed out at road checks during the summer, and will also be available at detachments across the north.

Secondhand smoke contains over 4000 toxic chemicals, 50 of which are known to cause cancer, including benzene, formaldehyde, arsenic and ammonia. There is no known safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. In vehicles, secondhand smoke is concentrated in a small space and can reach very high levels in a short period of time. Smoking a single cigarette in a car with the windows rolled up will produce concentrations of smoke up to 11 times higher than what would be encountered in a smoky bar. Opening a window or turning on the fan does not solve the problem – the smoke will be blown back into the vehicle.

The rates of tobacco use in northern British Columbia are significantly higher than for the rest of the province – 23% in northern BC compared to 16% in BC overall. This legislation provides another important tool for us in northern BC to close that gap and, in turn, improve the health of our residents and communities.

Kerri McCaig

Team Leader, Tobacco Reduction Strategy

Northern Health