Is it illegal in SC to smoke in a car with children inside? Here’s what state law says

Can you be fined in South Carolina for smoking in a car with a child inside?

No, but if South Carolina Senator Darrell Jackson has his way it would no longer be legal.

The Richland County senator has introduced a bill several times to outlaw the practice, but it has not passed both houses of the General Assembly. The bill would apply to children 12 and younger and would bring a driver a $100 fine each time.

Jackson has said the legislation is not to punish smokers but to ensure healthy children.

The Centers for Disease Control says there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

“Even brief exposure can cause serious health problems,” the federal agency says. “Secondhand smoke can cause coronary heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer in adults who do not smoke.”

Secondhand smoke is especially harmful to infants and young children.

The CDC cites these harms children face if exposed to secondhand smoke:

• Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
• Acute respiratory infections, such as pneumonia and bronchitis
• Middle ear disease
• More frequent and severe asthma
• Respiratory symptoms
• Slowed lung growth

The U.S. Surgeon General’s Office says studies found “smoking just one cigarette in a vehicle with the windows closed can generate more than 100 times the US Environmental Protection Agency’s 24-hour recommended exposure limit to fine respirable particles (particles that irritate the respiratory system, contain the carcinogenic chemicals found in tobacco smoke, and that can seep from the lungs into the bloodstream).”

It also produces an increase in carbon monoxide.

In all, 12 U.S. states ban smoking in cars with children inside, the most recent was West Virginia last year. The American Lung Association says West Virginia has the highest percentage of smokers — 21% — in the nation.

The states that ban smoking in cars with children inside are:

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• California
• Delaware
• Illinois
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Oregon
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• West Virginia