Earlier this year, time ran out on a bill that would have penalized drivers who smoke while transporting a child.
A bipartisan working group met for the first time Tuesday to look at the danger presented to children who are exposed to second-hand smoke while riding in a car.
According to a 2006 Harvard School of Public Health study, children who inhale second-hand smoke in cars are exposed to unsafe levels of a number of contaminants, even if the window is cracked open slightly. Second-hand smoke has been known to trigger health problems in children.
"Second-hand smoke exposure is associated with more respiratory disease. There's also an association with more middle ear disease [and] more ear infections. There's an association with the development of childhood asthma," said Dr. Michelle Cloutier, professor of pediatrics at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. "Finally, second-hand smoke exposure has been associated with sudden infant death syndrome."
Earlier this year, time ran out on a bill that would have penalized drivers who smoke while transporting a child who is required to use a child safety seat.
That bill's sponsor, Democratic State Rep. Henry Genga, as well as Republican State Rep. Noreen Kokoruda, have now convened the bipartisan working group to look at the issue further, and come up with a set of recommendations to minimize children's exposure to secondhand smoke.
"What we expect to accomplish here is not a narrow, defined legislation just to cars," Genga told the work group. "What we come up with in the end, hopefully, will be a consensus that we will be able to use in the years ahead, and to put into legislation."
According to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health, 35 to 45 percent of children in the U.S. are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke in homes and cars.
