Oklahoma Senate panel advances bill banning smoking in vehicles with children
Sen. Brenda Stanley, R-Midwest City, is pictured during a special legislative session. (Photo by Carmen Forman/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY – A Senate panel on Tuesday passed a bill that would prohibit smoking tobacco, marijuana and vapor products in a vehicle in the presence of a child.
Under Senate Bill 23, violators would be subject to a fine of $50 to $100.
The measure, by Sen. Brenda Stanley, R-Midwest City, passed the Senate Public Safety Committee by a vote of 5-3 and heads to the Senate floor.
Sen. Regina Goodwin, D-Tulsa, who voted against the bill, said she doesn't smoke, but cigarettes are legal, and some people are addicted to them.
'Yes, they are dangerous though,' Stanley said.
Goodwin said private cars are like private homes.
Stanley said the state governs other behaviors in vehicles by requiring seat belts and car seats.
'This is just taking care of children,' she said.
Stanley, an educator, said she remembers children coming to school with smoke billowing out of the vehicle and wreaking of the smell.
'I realize people have a right to smoke,' Stanley said. 'We just don't want them to do it in a closed vehicle.'
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