Fines for drivers who smoke in their car...

Lawmakers and health officials in Massachusetts are pushing for a bill that would penalize drivers who are found smoking in their cars while being accompanied by children under 18.

The bill would allow police to pull over those drivers, who could be fined $100.00 for the offense.

I am of two minds about this. It's a slippery slope. It's a shame that some parents don't have the God given sense (or parental concern) not to smoke around their children. But is a law passed to target the indigent minority really going to help?

Parents who would smoke with their children in the car also smoke while rocking their babies to sleep. What's next? Policing homes?

Yeah your right really Diana, its a difficult one, but who wants to live in a nanny state, where we all have to be forced to dumb down to the dumbest!

Its true of most things, even speeding, if someone is hurt/killed on a road, the speed limit is lowered, even if it was due to stupid people doing stupid things in bad conditions! now if a few stupid people die on the road, people think god thats terrible, and it acts as a warning to others, we learn from these things it helps us become aware of dangers, the danger of just cocooning us and making laws to prevent stupid things happening, is nobody learns why. It becomes like a parent saying to a young child ....because i said so!! instead of explaining why. Ok sometimes you do have to say 'because i said so' but its usually better to educate.

I say, 'sounds like a good idea' to me. Can't be concentrating on the road if your smoking, eating, listening to music, putting on make-up girls, drinking tea and/or coffee, finishing your breakfast. It all happens along the A40 from london to Oxford...

In fact a better idea would be to make those who smoke, walk around with a chimney stitched to their ear!! Thinks.....wait for it!

I agree with Ron - shouldn't be smoking in their cars anyway as it affects concentration. They banned using mobile phones which I agree with and smoking in cars should be banned too. Years ago when Martin smoked he dropped a lit cigarette in his lap whilst driving - luckily he didn't have a accident. Incidentally we drove past a man the other day who was shaving while he was driving!

I also agree with Jason in alot of ways - I am sick of living in this upside down nanny state! On one hand people are not allowed to smoke in front of children without being treated like a criminal and on the other hand in the same society youths virtually get away with ruining peoples lives by what they call "anti social behaviour" but what is really theft, criminal damage, harrassment, ABH, GBH and in some extreme cases murder.

Don't get me wrong, driving whilst smoking is probably a bad idea, i think the law is trying to say no smoking at all in cars with children. Now i don't smoke, and i don't think its right to smoke in front of children,  but there's a lot of stupid people about, that do and always will do this, law or not. I heard once that during autopsies its only the very young that have pink lungs taken out, the rest of us, smokers or not, have damaged, discoloured lungs, this is due to enviromental pollution, ok heavy smokers will be worse i guess, but its a worrying thought. It just seems we're obsessed with bringing in difficult to enforce laws that probably won't really have any great effect.

People will always do stupid things, and people will always die due to these stupid things, we can't try to protect everyone.

And Steph your right about the 'youths' they seem to cause chaos, but then i think youths always have to a certain extent, what is missing now is parental guidance, its all left to someone else, hence silly laws been passed, it won't work unless the parental support is there!!

And as for ASBO's i think they should rename them

Teenagers With Antisocial Tendancies ....kind of suits them better i think, they might be a little slower to brag about it too!!