Assemblyman Ortiz wants Cigarettes out if kids in car
ALBANY - The Brooklyn lawmaker who crafted the nation's first cell-phone driving ban is now taking aim at smoking in cars when kids are in tow.
ALBANY - The Brooklyn lawmaker who crafted the nation's first cell-phone driving ban is now taking aim at smoking in cars when kids are in tow. "When you expose children to secondhand smoke in cars, you are exposing them to enormous risks to their health," Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (D-Sunset Park) told the Daily News. Under his legislation, motorists caught puffing Cigarettes or cigars while accompanied by passengers under 16 years old would face fines of $100. Arkansas, California, Louisiana and Maine, along with Puerto Rico, have all banned smoking with kids in the car, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Health care advocates have backed the drive for such restrictions, noting studies show children typically spend about an hour a day in cars and can be exposed to dangerously high levels of secondhand smoke in a vehicle. Ortiz said cops will be able to enforce his proposed law the same way they handle seat-belt and cell-phone violations: with simple observation. The head of the state Association of Police Chiefs, John Grebert, was skeptical. "You can't expect police officers to regulate smokers in their cars," he said. "I think it's overregulation." [email protected]