Turia: Toot and shame car smokers

Tariana Turia backs scolding smokers driving with children. Photo / Ross Setford

Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia has suggested drivers should show their disapproval of others smoking in cars carrying children by tooting at them and wagging their finger like Supernanny scolding a child.

Mrs Turia was responding to calls yesterday by Labour MP Iain Lees-Galloway for the Government to ban people smoking in cars when children are with them.

Similar bans exist in several Australian states and in at least five American states.

Mrs Turia, who is the minister responsible for tobacco control, said it was one of a raft of possibilities she was considering and she has asked for advice on it.

However, she said it would be difficult to police so might not be banned in law. Instead she proposed other drivers put social pressure on those smokers.

"Maybe one of the ways we could do better is to encourage people who see people smoking in cars, tooting to them and doing the 'you shouldn't be doing that, mate' [gesture]."

She wagged her index finger in a scolding gesture to demonstrate how this could be done.

Mr Lees-Galloway made the call on World Smokefree Day, saying it was Labour's policy and the Government should adopt the initiative.

"Not only does it protect youngsters from the damage caused by secondhand smoke, it helps to denormalise smoking by reducing the opportunities for children to be exposed to cigarettes."

Mrs Turia has driven many of the anti-smoking measures the Government is now putting in place, including hefty tax increases on tobacco in the latest Budget, requiring retailers to store cigarettes out of sight of customers from next month and introducing plain packaging.

She said although Labour was now urging more action on smoking, it had had nine years to make such changes itself but had done little.

A spokesman for the lobby group Ash agreed with Ms Turia's solution as well as the suggestion for a ban to reduce the exposure of children to secondhand smoke.

"I think most of the public is on board with that message anyway. There is only a small minority for whom that message hasn't sunk in."

He did not believe it would prompt cases of road rage, "not any more than we've got at the moment anyway".

He said there was no reason a ban could not be introduced here, saying it would be similar to policing the cellphone ban, but with the added factor of establishing any children in the car were under the set age - which was 18 or 16 in most countries with a ban.