Ban smoking at bus stops in London - petition!

[smokefreestop]

As a person with difficult asthma, I find it really difficult to breathe when people are smoking at bus stops. I've tried asking people to stop smoking at bus stops - but often they say it's their legal right to smoke there. And you can't just move yourself or your kids away from passive smoking because often it's raining or you might lose your place in the queue.

So here's our petition calling for a ban in smoking at all London bus shelters - bit.ly/tflsmoke

Please sign if you find smoking at bus stops a problem.

The English public smoking ban doesn't extend to bus shelters that aren't more than half enclosed i.e. most bus shelters in London. However, TfL can ban smoking and require 'No Smoking' signs in all London bus shelters. Many cities do this in their own areas.

This matters because 3 years after the public smoking ban, a study showed there were ~6,800 fewer hospital admissions for childhood asthma. The public smoking ban now has widespread support – a 2012 poll revealed 78% of adults were in favour. There has been a 2.4% national fall in hospital admissions for heart attacks as a result of the ban - equivalent to 1,200 fewer annual admissions.

Hopefully we can get smoking stopped at bus stops in London - making it better for all those with lung and heart problems.

Thank you for reading this. Sign here: bit.ly/tflsmoke

[iamnins]

I was under the impression smoking was banned in all bus shelters in the UK, It is up here, in the Down Trodden North West, It also carries a mandatory fine if your caught. I personally wouldn't stand at a London Bus Stop anyway to much Smog.

[RibvanRey in reply to iamnins]

I would have thought that the diesel fumes from the bus would cause far more havoc with my breathing than the tiny white sticks. 2 inch diameter of soot blackened pipe belching thick smoke full of hydrocarbons. I certainly wouldn't risk my health by standing beside a London Road waiting for anything.

Rib

[Hidden]

First of all people don't generally queue at bus stops in London and second when I lived there for many years it was the traffic pollution which was by far the worst problem. How about bashing a motorist instead of bashing smokers for a change? Not defending smokers but everyone ignores inconsiderate drivers as few people need a car in London and most of them are personal journeys often with only 1 person in the car!

[ldwilliams]

Only problem i can see is - what happens when someone is standing a foot away from the bus shelter?

you would still get as much of their smoke but there would not legally be covered by any smoking ban i wouldnt have thought?

[RibvanRey in reply to ldwilliams]

Yet 2 ft away a bus can stop with its engine pumping out a thousand times as many cubic litres of smoke all perfectly legally. Rib

[Hidden]

I hope you got somewhere with this but who enforces it?

At my previous hospital there were so many smokers outside i often couldn't get to have my warfarin inr blood test results. I complained but no one is interested. If they can't sort it out at hospitals what chance at bus stops not just London as it shouldn't be for just one area either.

I as scared to ask people to stop with today's violent times even when they shouldn't be.

[Dragonmum]

Sorry, I'm not signing. Having read all the evidence on SHS I believe that smokers are the least of our worries; they have been demonised on evidence which was largely fabricated - I only became aware of this when the ban-everything brigade started their usual antics with electronic cigarettes.

[smokefreestop]

Flibberti, Helenakers223 - thanks! I've found it can be enforced in other cities where they have signs up at ALL shelters. Most people stop when you show them the sign says so - and in some cities, there have a number that you can phone and they can send someone round to give an on-the-spot £50 fine!

And helenakers223, it's so sad to hear that your medical care was impacted by smokers smoking outside hospitals. Hospitals are trying to do more to crack down - it's hard but every little bit helps.

Iamnins: In many cities, smoking is banned at all bus shelters. I know people say it's impossible to enforce - but when I lived in other cities where they had stickers pointing out that the shelter was 'No Smoking', all you needed to do was point to the sign and say "I'm an asthmatic, it says here you can't smoke so please would you mind not smoking?" It worked. I even once had four youths smoking in a massive storm who decided to move into the rain and stand there when I pointed to the No Smoking sign.

When I moved to London, people would say "it's not illegal, there's no sign".

Diesel fumes and how they cause more damage than ciggie smoke - it's harder to do something about vehicle exhaust, politically and practically. I'm trying to make a small bit of difference here. I'm not saying there isn't a problem with air pollution in Britain's cities - I'm just tackling one bit at a time to make things a bit better for those who are unwell.

ldwilliams - It's not perfect, but banning smoking at bus shelters is better than nothing. Also, a smoker would risk losing their place in the queue and with the British weather the way it is, people can end up huddling up close under a shelter so you inhale more. Some people who have lung conditions can need the shelter to stay out of the cold more than those who can brave ciggie smoke in their lungs.