Senate Bill S6743

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S6743

SPONSOR: STAVISKY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to prohibiting
smoking tobacco in motor vehicles where a minor is a passenger

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this legislation is to prohibit smoking tobacco in motor
vehicles where minors less than 18 years of age are passengers in such
vehicles; traffic infraction

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

  Section  1. Amends the vehicle and traffic law by adding a new section
1229-e to read, -as follows: Smoking in motor vehicles  located  upon  a
public  highway where a minor under eighteen years of age is a passenger
is prohibited. Any operator or passenger twenty - one years  of  age  or
older, violating this section shall be guilty of a traffic infraction.

              

Establishes  the  rebuttable  by evidence presumption of smoking for the
Purposes of this subdivision

Sets the forth what "smoking' means for the purposes of this subdivision

  Section 2. Sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The harmful effect secondhand smoke (SHS) can have on people,  especial-
ly, children hat been well documented. The EPA estimates that secondhand
smoke  causes  up  to  62,800  deaths each year 'among nonsmokers in the
United States, including 3,800 deaths due to lung cancer alone.-

In 2006, the U.S, Surgeon General issued a report,  "The  Health  Conse-
quences  of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke," saying that SHS is a
serious health hazard that can lead to disease and  premature  death  in
children  The report details that even brief exposure to SHS has immedi-
ate,adverse effects
 on the cardiovascular , system and that because the bodies of  infants-
and  children  are  still  developing  are  especially vulnerable to the
poisons in SHS. That Same year, the American Journal Of Preventive Medi-
cine reported the results of a Harvard School of Public Health study  on
SHS  in  automobiles. The study simulated children's exposure to second-
hand smoke in a motor vehicle by measuring carbon dioxide and respirable
suspended particles under actual  driving  conditions.  The  researchers
determined  that  the levels of RSP detected were deemed unsafe, partic-
ularly for children. Their conclusion was that  private  passenger  cars
are  a domestic environment with the potential to yield unsafe levels of
SHS contaminants.,

At its Annual Meeting in June 2014,  the  American  Medical  Association
reaffirmed its commitment to protecting children from second-hand smoke.
The AMA said:

Studies suggest that children are more vulnerable than adults to second-
hand  smoke  and  that  second-hand smoke can-increase likelihood of ear
disease, lower respiratory infections and asthma. The AMA  is  dedicated
to  reducing exposure to Second-hand tobacco smoke for both children and
adults and voted today to add to its policies on the topic,  strengthen-
ing  its  support  of  tobacco-free and smoke-free environments. The new
policy supports legislation that prohibits smoking  while  operating  or
riding  in  a  vehicle  with children - similar to policies in effect in
Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Maine, Oregon, Utah and Puerto Rico.

"The dangers of secondhand smoke are marked and proven, and  no  one  is
more  at  risk  than  our youth," said William Kobler, MD, member of the
Board of Trustees. It is important that we do all that we can to  reduce
exposure  to  second-hand  smoke  by supporting smoke-free environments,
including vehicles." http://www.ama-assn.org/ama pubine  ws/n  ews/2014/
2014-06  -10-new-pol  icies-to-imp  rov  ethe-health-of -thenation-dayt-
wo.page download ed 01.29.2015

  Secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) is a major preventable  contributor  to
acute  and  chronic adverse health outcomes that affect children dispro-
portionately.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention  (CDC)  reported  that  in
children, second hand smoke causes the following:

*ear infections

* more frequent and severe asthma attacks, onset of asthma in previously
healthy children

*respiratory symptoms. (coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath)

*respiratory infections (bronchitis, pneumonia)

*a greater risk for sudden infant death syndrome. In the U.S., for chil-
dren aged 18 months or younger, secondhand smoke exposure is responsible
for  an  estimated 150,000-300,000 new cases of bronchitis and pneumonia
annually and approximately 7,500  -  15,000  hospitalizations  annually.
Nonsmokers  who  are  exposed to secondhand smoke at home increase their
lung cancer risk by 20-30k. (information The CDC reports that there  are
more  than  7,000 chemicals, including hundreds that are toxic and about
70 that can cause cancer. The World Health Organization has  established
25 mcg/m3 as the limit for safe particulate matter levels.

In  2012,  The Scottish Centre for Indoor Air at the University of Aber-
deen conducted a study that highlights the dangers  of  SH5  in  automo-
biles.  Researchers measured fine particulate matter in the rear passen-
ger seat of cars driven by 14 smokers and  3  nonsmokers.    Particulate
matter  levels  averaged 7.4 mcg/m3 during smoke-free drives but were 11
times higher (85 mcg/m3) in cars where smoking occurred. Average  levels
peaked at 385 mcg/m3, with the highest level being 880 mc8/m3.

While  awareness  of  SHS has modified the behavior of smoking in house-
holds, the same cannot be said of automobiles. A  November  2012  Center
for Child and Adolescent Health Research and Policy study found that two
out  of  three  parents with smoke-free home policies do not enforce the
same rules in their cars. Some three-quarters of smoking parents  admit-
ted  that  someone  had smoked in their car in the last three months. In
addition, only one-quarter of smoking parents  adopt  a  smoke-free  car
policy  and  nearly  half of those who do not enforce a ban, smoke while
their children are in the car. Smoking  is  prohibited  in  many  public
places such as airplanes, shopping malls, restaurants, bars, and a whole
range  of  facilities  and  spaces  serving  child  age populations. The
dangers  secondhand smoke can pose to a child in an enclosed area like a
private passenger vehicle are severe. We currently  provide  protections
for  both  children  and  drivers  by mandating the use of car seats and
seatbelts in private automobiles. This bill is  an  extension  of  those
protections by providing children clean air to breathe. The $100 penalty
imposed for violation of this ban is justified

In  New  York  State  on  the  local  level, Rockland County has already
enacted a ban on smoking in cars with children up to the age of 18.   At
least  15  other states and the District of Columbia have similar legis-
lation pending.  At  present,  seven  states  have  enacted  legislation
prohibiting  smoking  in cars that are transporting foster children.  by
the significant, well., documented negative health impact on those chil-
dren forcibly exposed to SHS in automobiles.  This act shall take effect
on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become law.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2023-2024: A.5838 / S2064 - referred to health

2021-2022: A. No same as/S.4211 - Referred to Health.

2019-2020: A.3962/S.2657 - Referred to Health.

2017-2018: A.5096/S.5209 - Referred to Codes.

2015-2016: A.1892-A/S.3155-A - Referred to Rules.

2013-2014: A.7777/S.5206 - Referred to Judiciary.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
None to the state.