Bills target drivers who smoke

OLYMPIA -- Smokers wanting to light up while driving with children in their car might want to think twice.

Bills banning smoking in vehicles carrying children -- whether it be pipe, cigar or cigarettes -- are making their way through the Legislature.

Proposed by Sen. Chris Marr, D-Spokane, in the Senate, and Rep. Shay Schual-Berke, D-Normandy Park, in the House, the bills are similar to last year's law banning cell phone use while driving.

Police could only ticket drivers if they are first pulled over for a major or "primary" offense, like speeding.

Under the provisions of the House bill, drivers would be given a six-month reprieve from penalization, during which police would give warning tickets and attempt to educate drivers. The amount of money people would have to pay in fines has not yet been set.

Both bills are constructed so that smoking infractions will not be reported to insurance companies or appear on violators' driving records.

"We're not telling you not to smoke. We're not telling you to not smoke in your car. We're telling you to not smoke in front of your kids in your car," Schual-Berke said.

According to Schual-Berke, the only physician in Washington's Legislature, secondhand smoke is linked to occurrences of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

"The documentation about secondhand smoke in general is very copious. We know very clearly about the link to heart disease, emphysema, ear infections, lung cancer -- all directly related and all very well-documented," said Nick Federici, a lobbyist for the American Lung Association of Washington. "The public health evidence is very clear and pretty much incontrovertible."

Washington state already bans smoking in bars and restaurants.

The House version of the driving while smoking bill would ban lighting up with children 18 and under; the Senate's would ban smoking around kids 13 and under.

In a packed committee hearing held Monday, all public testimony was delivered in support of the bill, though Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, said he was skeptical over the merits of legislation banning smoking in open-topped "roadsters."

"I don't smoke -- never have smoked -- but this is a sort of another 'driftnet' approach to a 'nanny-gate' state," Carrell said. "What does a house have in common with a field? Nothing. What does an open car with volumes of air blowing by have in common with an enclosed car?"

Schual-Berke said she was open to negotiating an amendment to her bill that would exempt open-topped sports cars.

Testimony was not delivered in opposition to the bill, but in the past anti-smoking measures have been attacked by tobacco companies. Both Schual-Berke and Federici say they're optimistic tobacco companies will withhold opposition.

"Whereas 10 years ago something like this wouldn't have even been considered ... public opinion has followed scientific clarity about this issue," Federici said. "The lack of opposition -- which we hope is really a lack of opposition -- continues."