Overview
- North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony refiled an amendment to the Federal Non-Smoking Protection Act, joined by Rheinland-Pfalz, Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein.
- The proposal would prohibit smoking in vehicles when minors or pregnant people are present, with sanction levels not specified in the current filing.
- If the Bundesrat agrees on Sept. 26, the bill will move to the Bundestag for consideration.
- Health evidence cited includes DKFZ measurements showing in-car smoke concentrations far above those in heavily smoked bars and an estimate that around one million minors are exposed.
- Medical bodies back the measure as overdue, while critics like CDU’s Simone Borchardt call a car-only ban a placebo and urge broader prevention; similar bans already apply in the UK, France, Italy, Belgium and parts of the US and Australia.