This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A bill that would make it a crime to smoke in a vehicle with a child present passed in the House 39-35 Monday night and went to the Senate despite two attempts to derail it by lawmakers who believed it was a slippery slope eroding personal freedoms.
Rep. Patrice Arent, D-Millcreek, said children shouldn't be forced to inhale a substance that would be already illegal for them to ingest on their own.
"You can't drink in a car, you can't provide a cigarette to a child in a car ... just because you're in a car," she said. "We protect our children by putting them in car seats. Maybe we don't want to ... but we do for their health and safety."
The two attempts to gut the bill, First Substitute HB89, were made by Reps. Wayne Harper, R-West Jordan, and Bradley Daw, R-Orem.
Both argued it would result in the government further intruding on parents' rights and would eventually reach into the home to prohibit smoking with a child present.
But Rep. Lee Perry, R-Perry, said the bill was timely given the earlier debate in the House about preventing abortions.
"We talked about abortion," Perry said. "But the second they come out we can start poisoning them and killing them?"
The bill would make smoking in the car with a child a secondary offense, meaning the driver would have to be pulled over for a primary infraction before being cited for the crime — which would be a $45 ticket and would also require the officer to issue a pamphlet on the dangers of smoking.