Stockbridge passes no-smoking ban on motorists traveling with kids

Stockbridge City Councilman John Blount. Photo from City of Stockbridge website

Stockbridge City Councilman John Blount. Photo from City of Stockbridge website

Stockbridge has taken the unusual step of banning motorists who smoke from lighting up in the car if they have children under the age of 15 riding with them.

Those caught smoking could face a fine of up to $500.

The measure, which recently passed 3-2, goes into effect this week. Officials with The Atlanta Regional Commission and the Georgia Municipal Association were unaware of other Georgia cities with smoking bans on motorists.

The ban comes just as a state lawmaker is working on a bill that would create a smoking ban on motorists statewide. But some smokers called the ban an intrusion into their lives and want the government to butt out.

“It’s more government telling people what to do. I can’t believe they passed something like that. It’s just wrong,” said Tony Brown. The Leesburg, Fla. resident travels to Stockbridge on business occasionally. Thursday, he was leaning against the wall of a QuikTrip in Stockbridge enjoying a Marlboro Light.

“I pay for my car. I pay for my kids. Unless Stockbridge is going to pay for both, they should stay out of it,” he said. “It’s encroaching on my private matter. I remember my parents smoking in the car with the windows up. Somehow I made it.”

The ACLU of Georgia declined to comment on the matter Thursday.

Meanwhile, Georgia Rep. Sandra Scott, D-Rex, said Thursday she hopes to introduce legislation later this month seeking a statewide ban on smokers traveling with kids.

If that happens, Georgia would be one of less than a dozen states nationwide with such a ban, Scott said.

Efforts to pass such a ban in Georgia failed two years ago in the House of Representatives. The bill died soon after.

As it stands now, “Stockbridge is the only city we know of that has a ban on motorists,” Scott said.

Stockbridge’s no-smoking ordinance is the brainchild of councilman John Blount who decided to push for the ban after seeing a couple at a grocery store removing their child from their smoke-filled car. Blount, who also is a minister, said he has worked with numerous children with respiratory problems whose parents smoke.

Breathing secondhand smoke during childhood can lead to long-term breathing and health problems and a shorter life span, according to the American Heart Association. An estimated 24 million nonsmoking children and young people are exposed to secondhand smoke in the U.S., largely due to parents who smoke the heart association 2016 report noted.

Stockbridge does not have its own police force and relies on Henry County police for enforcement, Blount said Thursday. “The ordinance would be enforced like anything else that’s enforced in the city proper.” In addition to Henry police, Stockbridge code enforcement officers would be available to enforce the ban, Blount said.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Henry County resident Frank Gemmill said as emerged from his car at the QT, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. “But they ought to get the people off the cell phones first. That’s what gets people killed.”

Which states have smoke-free car laws?

The states shown in the chart below all prohibit smoking in cars with passengers considered minors.

Source: www.no-smoke.org