Smoking in cars update.
No Text Messages or Calls for NJ Drivers
Mar 1, 2008
By BRAD HAYNES
By BRAD HAYNES
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – For New Jersey drivers, the message is clear: Keep your thumbs on the wheel and off the keypad.
Beginning Saturday, police can slap drivers with a $100 fine for talking or sending a text message on hand-held devices.
New Jersey joins four other states, including neighboring New York, where talking on a hand-held cell phone is reason enough to get pulled over. The Garden State is the first where text-messaging on the road is a primary offense, meaning police need no other reason to pull a driver over, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Pam Fischer, director of New Jersey’s Division of Highway Traffic Safety, said officers will be on the lookout for telltale signs of distracted drivers – slow driving and the “cell-phone weave.”
Drivers can still use their cell phones to contact police or emergency services, and can talk at any time with a hands-free device. But crash statistics suggest that those headsets and earpieces may not make conversations in the car any safer.
In 2006, nearly half of the 3,580 phone-related crashes in New Jersey involved a hands-free device, according to transportation officials. Five of 11 fatal accidents involving a cell phone that year also involved a hands-free device.
Russ Rader of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said those figures are consistent with recent research showing no difference in crash risk between hand-held and hands-free cell phones.
“The conversation itself is the distraction,” Rader said. “You are in another place when you are talking on the phone.”
Trucker Lou Cataldo hopes the new law will cut down on the distracted drivers he sees across the state.
“I see a car in the middle lane doing 50 miles per hour, and 99.9 percent of the time it’s someone yakking on a cell phone,” he said.
But Cataldo questioned how police would spot drivers typing out a message.
“If you’re doing 75 miles per hour,” he said, “the cop has to be right alongside to see you.”
Driving while using a hand-held cell phone has been illegal in New Jersey since 2004, when the state became the second in the nation to pass a ban. However, it was considered a secondary offense – something drivers could be ticketed for if they were pulled over for another reason. Over the past year, state courts have recorded 16,000 tickets issued for the offense.
Fischer predicted that number would rise significantly now that drivers can be pulled over for cell phone use alone.
Twenty-one state legislatures this year are considering some kind of ban on texting while driving.
“It’s a popular issue this year,” said Matt Sundeen, a transportation analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures. “We expect to see some movement on this.”
New Jersey Senate Panel Supports Penalty for Smoking in Cars With Children Aboard
By RONALD SMOTHERS
June 8, 2007
June 8, 2007
TRENTON, June 7 — Smoking in New Jersey has been banned from the workplace, public buildings, bars, restaurants and even large swaths of the casino floors in Atlantic City. The next frontier is the family car with children aboard.
Under a measure passed unanimously Thursday by the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee, anyone caught smoking while a passenger 16 years old or younger is in the vehicle would be charged with a disorderly offense punishable by a $100 fine.
“There is no more important law enforcement responsibility than protecting children,” said State Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, a Democrat of U nion County who sponsored the measure. “And there is no worse thing you can do to children’s health than to have them closed up in a car where someone is smoking.”
The measure would make smoking with a child in the car a primary violation of the state’s traffic codes, allowing police officers to stop such drivers and give them tickets.
If approved by the full Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jon S. Corzine, the measure would make New Jersey the third state — after Arkansas and Louisiana — to impose such a ban. In Arkansas, however, the ban applies to those driving with children 6 and younger, and in Louisiana, 13 and younger.
In New Jersey, only one town, Keyport, in Monmouth County has a ban, which was approved in April.
Even as legislators approved the measure, which most said was likely to be enacted, they expressed some ambivalence. Senator Barbara Buono, a Democrat from Edison, who ultimately approved the ban, wondered aloud, “I don’t know if this is the best way to deal with parental behavior.”
Antismoking activists in New Jersey and nationally applauded the bill as a recognition of the harmful effects of secondhand smoke, which has driven much of the legislation aimed at banning smoking in most public places and many private ones as well.
Regina Carson, president of the New Jersey Group Against Smoking Pollution, known as GASP, said that this bill addresses the needs of infants and toddlers who cannot communicate their distress at smoke and teenagers afraid to confront their parents or other adults about their discomfort.
“This provides a consistent message about the dangers of second-hand smoke and smoking,” Ms. Carson said. “Children are taught in school, or by public service announcements, that smoking and secondhand smoke are bad for you.”
Dr. John Banzhaf, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health, a 40-year-old national anti-smoking group, said that quality-of-life measures, like smoking bans when children are present, were an outgrowth of recent moves to ban smoking by foster parents, caring for children who are ultimately a state responsibility.
“Six or eight months ago it would have been impossible to get such a bill through a state legislature,” Dr. Banzhaf said. “But the ban on foster parents has made it more likely.”
But Gary Nolan, the United States regional representative for the Smoker’s Club, an international group that seeks to assert private property rights in countering smoking bans, said he saw “big brother, big pharma” and no end to harmful social engineering behind such bills.
Mr. Nolan said that the concern about secondhand smoke was “junk science” that cited levels of harmful substances in smoke that did not reach levels recognized as dangerous by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Among drivers, reaction mirrored the ambivalence expressed by legislators.
Phil Volpe, a nonsmoker, who was seated at a Starbucks in Pennington with his 10-year-old daughter, Erin, said, “It is a little bit big brother, but the health and safety of a child is more important than big brother.”
And Erin, who said that she had just completed her school’s DARE course on the prevention of alcohol, tobacco and drug use, was firmly in favor of the ban as well.
“Smoking could distract someone, and they could miss a stop sign or something,” she said.
And there was a question of enforcement.
Sgt. Michael F. Cseremsak of the Hopewell Township Police Department questioned whether officers would enforce the law.
Using a hand-held cellphone, Sergeant Cseremsak noted, was a secondary traffic violation, meaning that officers could not stop drivers for that violation alone, but could cite them if they were stopped for some other infraction like speeding.
“Does this cause hazardous or careless driving?” said the officer, who said he occasionally smoked a cigar, though never at home or in a car. “I don’t think so. It’s really borderline, and I just wonder how far we are going to go regulating people’s lives.”
Bill aims to safeguard kids in smokers’ cars
June 08, 2007
BY SUSAN K. LIVIO, Star-Ledger Staff
BY SUSAN K. LIVIO, Star-Ledger Staff
In a state where it’s illegal to light up in nearly all public places, a panel of lawmakers yesterday voted to ban smoking in more personal spaces — inside private vehicles when children are present.
The Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee approved a bill that would allow police to stop drivers who are smoking while traveling with children under the age of 17.
There are very few activities more dangerous for children than being confined in a car where someone is smoking,” said Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-U nion), who sponsored the bill, S2641.
Violators would pay a $100 fine, but would not be required to pay insurance or state motor vehicle licensing surcharges, according to the bill. The committee added an amendment proposed by Sen. Tom Kean Jr. that would devote the money from fines to state-funded smoking cessation programs.
New Jersey would be the third state in the country to enact a ban on smoking while driving with kids, according to New Jersey GASP, Group Against Smoking Pollution. Karen Blumenfeld of GASP lauded Lesniak’s bill as being “on the forefront of protecting children from secondhand smoke.”
The bill passed unanimously and now heads to the full Senate for a vote.
Yet the issue is likely to attract more attention as the public learns the effort to control secondhand smoke will affect families’ behavior in private.
George Koodray, the New Jersey state coordinator for The Smoker’s Club Inc., a national group, said the bill is an example of government gone wild.
“We don’t need regulations to give us the sense to know not to smoke in front of a child,” said Koodray, reached last night after the vote. “What’s troubling to us is the legislative process feels the need to address every conceivable contingency out there.”
Public smoking zones shrank 14 months ago with the passage of an indoor smoking ban covering restaurants, bars and non-gaming rooms at casinos. And a bill is pending to end the exemption for all casino areas.
“I agree with the advice the legislation might give, but I don’t agree with formalizing things like this,” said Koodray, a board member for the Metropolitan Society, a private cigar club in Fairfield with about 150 members in New York and New Jersey.
Committee member Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex) said she supported the bill reluctantly. “I don’t know whether legislation is the proper vehicle for parental behavioral modification,” Buono said. “I’m a little uncomfortable.”
“I’m not,” said the bill’s sponsor, Lesniak, who likened exposing children to second-hand smoke to “child endangerment.”
“We need to set an example,” he added.
The Monmouth County municipality of Keyport set the tone in April by enacting its own ban on smoking in cars with kids. Jon Barone, a member of the Keyport Board of Health and the Monmouth County Regional Health Commission addressed the committee.
“I believe that children are the forgotten victims in the second-hand smoke debate, and should be protected as much, if not more, than adults who are exposed to second-hand smoke,” Barone testified. “It is questionable whether or not children can avoid cigarette smoke at home, but they cannot escape it if they are in a car while someone is smoking.”
Barone said critics who say this tramples on individual freedoms are overlooking the other legal demands the state places on drivers. The use of hand-held cell phones is prohibited, and drivers and front-seat passengers must wear seat belts.
The stakes are much higher for children, he added. “This is as serious a health risk as not putting a child in a car seat.”
Chatham was almost the first community to enact a local ban, but in March the borough council decided against it because of their concern over legal challenges. Instead, it decided to recommend the Legislature enact a statewide ban.
Even the state’s top health official acknowledged the bill may prove a hard sell.
Health and Senior Citizens Commissioner Fred Jacobs said Lesniak did not consult with him before introducing the measure last month. Jacobs said while he supports the idea of the bill, “I would prefer to start with a comprehensive education program because it deals with parental behavior and conduct.”
If the bill ultimately clears the Legislature and is signed into law by Gov. Jon Corzine, New Jersey would follow Louisiana, which last year enacted a ban that affected drivers who smoked around children 12 and younger. Arkansas also cites drivers who smoke around children under 6 years old or weigh 60 pounds or less.
Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@starledger.com or (609) 989-0802.
Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@starledger.com or (609) 989-0802.
New Jersey Move to Ban Smoking in Cars with Kids Advances?
07 Jun 2007
By ANGELA DELLI SANTI, Associated Press Writer
?? TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A proposal banning smoking in cars with kids inside advanced easily Thursday after its sponsor told colleagues there are few things more dangerous than exposing children to secondhand smoke in confined spaces.
?? The measure was released by the Senate health committee Thursday afternoon and now heads to the full Senate for a vote.
?? “I cannot understand those who say, ‘I have the right … to endanger my children and other people’s children in such a clear and direct way,”‘ said Sen. Raymond Lesniak, the measure’s sponsor.
?? The bill dovetails with a movement nationally to limit children’s exposure to secondhand smoke.
?? Six states including New Jersey have enacted bans on smoking in cars containing foster children, said Regina Carlson, executive director of NJ GASP, or Group Against Smoking Pollution. The others are Maine, Vermont, Texas, Oregon and Washington. Additionally, Louisiana and Arkansas along with Puerto Rico have enacted smoking bans in cars with any child inside, as New Jersey is considering.
?? The Monmouth County shore town of Keyport became New Jersey’s first municipality to ban smoking inside cars with children in April.
?? Also that month, the state tightened a loophole in its Smoke-Free Air Act that allowed smoking on Atlantic City’s casino floors. Only a quarter of a casino’s gaming spaces can now be designated for smokers.
?? New Jersey banned smoking in most public places more than a year ago.
?? Anti-smoking advocates say protecting minors from secondhand smoke is their next frontier, both because the dangers of exposure to secondhand smoke are well-documented and children don’t have a choice when someone lights up in a car.
?? Lesniak, a U nion County Democrat, said he got the idea for the bill after watching a driver puffing on a cigarette, car windows rolled up, with two kids inside.
?? If approved by both houses of the Legislature and signed into law by the governor, the bill would make smoking in a car with a child under 16 inside a disorderly persons offense punishable by a $100 fine. Violators would not receive points against their driver’s licenses or face auto insurance surcharges.
?? The money collected from the fines will help fund anti-smoking programs administered by the state Health Department.
?? Responding to criticism that the bill attempts to modify parental behavior through legislation, Lesniak said, “It’s important for us as a society to say this conduct is wrong and should be prohibited.”
?? “It’s child endangerment,” he said. “We need to set an example with this law.”
07 Jun 2007
By ANGELA DELLI SANTI, Associated Press Writer
?? TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A proposal banning smoking in cars with kids inside advanced easily Thursday after its sponsor told colleagues there are few things more dangerous than exposing children to secondhand smoke in confined spaces.
?? The measure was released by the Senate health committee Thursday afternoon and now heads to the full Senate for a vote.
?? “I cannot understand those who say, ‘I have the right … to endanger my children and other people’s children in such a clear and direct way,”‘ said Sen. Raymond Lesniak, the measure’s sponsor.
?? The bill dovetails with a movement nationally to limit children’s exposure to secondhand smoke.
?? Six states including New Jersey have enacted bans on smoking in cars containing foster children, said Regina Carlson, executive director of NJ GASP, or Group Against Smoking Pollution. The others are Maine, Vermont, Texas, Oregon and Washington. Additionally, Louisiana and Arkansas along with Puerto Rico have enacted smoking bans in cars with any child inside, as New Jersey is considering.
?? The Monmouth County shore town of Keyport became New Jersey’s first municipality to ban smoking inside cars with children in April.
?? Also that month, the state tightened a loophole in its Smoke-Free Air Act that allowed smoking on Atlantic City’s casino floors. Only a quarter of a casino’s gaming spaces can now be designated for smokers.
?? New Jersey banned smoking in most public places more than a year ago.
?? Anti-smoking advocates say protecting minors from secondhand smoke is their next frontier, both because the dangers of exposure to secondhand smoke are well-documented and children don’t have a choice when someone lights up in a car.
?? Lesniak, a U nion County Democrat, said he got the idea for the bill after watching a driver puffing on a cigarette, car windows rolled up, with two kids inside.
?? If approved by both houses of the Legislature and signed into law by the governor, the bill would make smoking in a car with a child under 16 inside a disorderly persons offense punishable by a $100 fine. Violators would not receive points against their driver’s licenses or face auto insurance surcharges.
?? The money collected from the fines will help fund anti-smoking programs administered by the state Health Department.
?? Responding to criticism that the bill attempts to modify parental behavior through legislation, Lesniak said, “It’s important for us as a society to say this conduct is wrong and should be prohibited.”
?? “It’s child endangerment,” he said. “We need to set an example with this law.”
Read More:? NJ Smoking In Cars Page 2
