In a draft bill related to the legalization of cannabis, the federal government of Germany plans a nationwide ban on smoking inside closed vehicles in the presence of pregnant women or children to protect them from passive smoking. The initiative is not new but never became a reality at the federal level.
Germany’s Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (Social Democratic Party, SPD) wants children and pregnant women to be protected from passive smoking in vehicles.
First reported by RDN, a Hanover-based media close to the SPD, the draft amendment for the Non-smoker protection law would ban smoking in closed vehicles such as cars when a pregnant woman or a child is inside.
The move is meant to “ensure the necessary protection from passive smoking for this particularly vulnerable group of people, according to the explanatory statement of the law. Exposure of smoke in the car is extremely high due to the small volume of space.”
The proposed amendment is included in the draft bill for the legalization of cannabis as part of the government coalition agreement between the SPD, the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Greens. The smoking ban would apply to tobacco cigarettes, e‑cigarettes, heated tobacco products and cannabis.
The federal minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach, tweeted: “Children and pregnant women need better protection in society. A ban on smoking in the car when they ride along is a must. It should have been introduced earlier; permanent damage can occur, especially during pregnancy and with young children.”
According to the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), passive smoking increases the risk of developing lung cancer by 40 percent, and children are almost twice at risk of developing asthma. Studies showed the concentration of pollutants in a car where people smoke is five times as high as in an average smoky bar.
People contravening the smoking ban law would be fined, although the amount isn’t specified.
Approved by all ministries, the draft amendment is still subject to changes after discussions with associations and before a final decision by the cabinet. The German Children’s Fund welcomed the government initiative.
The idea of banning smoking in the presence of children has come up regularly in Germany but never moved forward at the federal level.
Constitutional concerns?
A 2007 federal law forbids smoking in public buildings and public transportation across Germany.
However, the federal government thought it was up to the states’ responsibility to provide laws for restaurants, bars or nightclubs. Most states have some exceptions to the smoking ban for these places, except in Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland, where the non-smoker protection is stricter.
Since 2019, at least five federal states enforced some sort of bans on vehicles with children and imposed fines from 500 to 3,000 euros (548 to 3,300 dollars) for contravening smokers.
Some federal states have been pushing for a nationwide ban for some time.
In April 2022, the Bundesrat, representing the sixteen Länder of Germany at the federal level, issued a bill to ban smoking inside cars to avoid passive smoking. It acknowledged the difficulty of enforcing such a ban in a household but proposed to apply it inside vehicles.
Some critics argue such a ban is hard to enforce. The police are skeptical that it can be controlled even if a ban is already enforced on using mobile phones while driving.
Lars Lindemann, the FDP health politician, told the German news agency DPA on Friday that an “approach to support and promote quitting smoking to be a better way.”
Ulrich Lange from the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian counterpart of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), called on the people’s consideration for other passengers and clarification about the bill.
For Tino Sorge, the spokesperson for health policy of the CDU, the minister’s plan is “hypocritical,” arguing Mr. Lauterbach could have implemented the ban long ago but instead didn’t pursue the initiative after the proposal from the states. “Moreover, the federal government raised constitutional concerns about banning smoking in vehicles. The question of whether these have been dispelled in the meantime remains completely open,” he told the North Rhine-Westphalia-based Rheinische Post.
Last year, the federal government said the ban would be “unreservedly welcomed” but that it raised potential constitutional rights issues. Like a house, a car is considered a private space, and the law might infringe on personal freedom rights.
In 2014 already, the Federal Ministry of Health, led by Angela Merkel’s CDU, thought the prohibition of smoking inside a car in the presence of children would be an encroachment on the parents’ rights of upbringing and doubted the federal government had the legislative competence to enact such a law.
But in October 2015, the same month as when the United Kingdom enacted a ban on smoking inside cars, the Bundestag Research Services advised that a smoking ban inside vehicles was compatible with the Basic Law, which acts as Germany’s constitution.
It found the encroachment of liberties on the smokers was proportionate, given that they can take smoke breaks for longer trips while children often can’t choose to travel exclusively inside a smoke-free car.
