State lawmakers in Connecticut are considering banning smoking in cars that contain small children, WTNH.com reported.
The plan will be brought up later in the week at the state legislature’s Transportation Committee.
State Rep. Henry Genga of East Hartford, who has been pushing the bill, cited medical research in the creation of the proposal.
“Until they’re age 7, their immunity systems are not mature,” Genga told WTNH.com, “so they require a lot more air than you and I would, multiple times more.”
Genga also noted that simply cracking a window won’t cut it, likening smoke-filled cars with the windows open to banned smoking bars.
State police said the ban would be easy to enforce alongside the already existing child restraint law, which requires children under the age of 7 and under 60 pounds to ride in a child restrain seat with a strap.
"Seat belts, cell phones, child restraint seats and children wearing helmets," Genga told WTNH.com, comparing the ban to other simple car regulations. "This just makes sense, it's common sense; it's the right thing to do."
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