Smoking in the car: Anyone who violates the ban must pay a fine of 3,000 euros

Created: 05/28/2022, 09:00

By: Jasmin Pospiech

After the smoking ban in pubs and discotheques, will there be one for the car?

After all, this also endangers passengers.

That should change now.

Berlin – Some time ago, the Federal Ministry of Health reported that smoking is decreasing, at least among young people.

According to this, a clear decrease in the smoking rate could be observed in this age group.

In addition, smoking was banned in bars, pubs and discotheques a few years ago.

But smokers can smoke as much as they want in their own car, even if other people are present.

But some federal states, including North Rhine-Westphalia, Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, now want to apply for a smoking ban there to protect passengers.

Smoking in the car: Anyone who violates the ban must pay a fine of 3,000 euros

If the Federal Council has its way, smoking in cars will soon be partially banned.

(Iconic image) © Oskar Eyb/Imago

To this end, they have initiated an amendment to paragraphs 1, 2 and 5 of the Federal Non-Smoking Protection Act (BNachrSchG) in the Bundesrat.

This states that it will be forbidden to smoke in the car in the presence of minors and pregnant women in the future.

Violators of the planned ban face hefty fines of between 500 and 3,000 euros.

The penalty should also be due if the windows and/or sunroof are open.

However, convertibles with the top completely open are exempt from the smoking ban.

The federal states justify their proposal with the fact that smoking in the car is particularly harmful to children and pregnant women and that this is the only way to protect them.

After all, one should not underestimate the risk of passive smoking, according to the draft law, 166,000 children worldwide die every year as a result.

The risk of this is greatly increased in closed rooms such as cars, since small children and young people are directly exposed to the toxic vapors and inhale them.

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Smoking in the car: will the bill pass?

A measurement by the German Cancer Research Center (dkfz) has shown that the pollutant load in a smoke-filled car is around five times higher than in an average smoky bar. According to the dkfz, one million minors in Germany are currently exposed to tobacco smoke in the car.

As a result, they could be at risk of respiratory problems and diseases, impaired lung function, middle ear infections and worse.

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But what happens next?

Next, the Bundestag must also agree before the proposal is waved through.

By the way: Smoking in cars is already prohibited in other European countries such as Great Britain, Italy, Greece, France and Austria.

This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication.

In no way does it replace a visit to the doctor.

Unfortunately, our editors are not allowed to answer individual questions about clinical pictures.