It will be "a battle" getting the bill through the House, says Michael Siler, director of government relations for the American Cancer Society, but he said supporters of the measure will push hard to get it through.

SB14, sponsored by Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake City, would make it illegal, punishable by a $45 fine, to smoke in the car with a child under the age of 5.

It met resistance from some senators who felt it infringed on the property rights of the vehicle owner and could lead to further government meddling.

"If I vote for this measure, in the spirit of incrementalism, next year are we going to have a bill filed to fine parents who don't have the right filter in their furnace for their asthmatic child?" asked Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper.

Others, including Republican Sen. Scott Greiner, the chief of the Ogden Police Department, questioned how officers would determine the age of a child in a smoky car.

McCoy said he checked with the Utah Highway Patrol and other police departments and none objected. And he read from a letter he received from a UHP trooper who said he was shocked when he stopped a car filled with smoke. It was a "death trap," the trooper wrote, and praised McCoy for sponsoring the bill.

"Our officers make judgment calls all the time. We enforce lots of different age restrictions in traffic code and we don't have any problems," said McCoy

A similar bill passed the Senate last year, but failed to get out of a House committee.