Between June 2022 and August 2023 only three official reports about people smoking in the car with children on the back seat have been drawn up.
Smoking in the car in the presence of children was banned at the beginning of 2019 and can be punished by a 200-euro fine. That’s a fine that is even higher than that meted out to people caught on the phone behind the wheel. So far, few offenders have been caught: in the past year there were only three: two drivers smoking with children in the car in Wallonia, and a third in Brussels, the Belgian and Flemish capital.
Regular checks are carried out, says Paul Van den Meerssche, head of inspections at the health ministry. "We do around 150 checks every year, including some near schools or in car parks. We check several dozen cars on each occasion, so it's more than 1,000 cars a year. The number of infringements recorded is very limited. It seems this is a law that is well respected."
"Since the 2011 general ban on smoking in hospitality, we have seen that fewer people are smoking in private spaces and in cars. People are today more conscious about things like that."
Government MP Els Van Hoof (Flemish Christian democrat) has urged Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Flemish socialist/Vooruit) to have more frequent checks conducted. "After all, smoking in the car with children in the back seat is anything but innocent: in such a small space, you very quickly have a very high concentration of harmful particles, even with the windows open or the air conditioning on.
Mr Van den Meerssche says that the health ministry also occasionally asks the police to include checks on smoking in vehicles with children when they stage actions. "I can understand it is not possible to pay constant attention to this, but if they do organise big operations, e.g. around schools, then I think it would also be useful to check this."