Poll: Should smoking be banned in public?
Smoking in cars where children are present will be banned in Wales from October.
The new law will come into effect in four months time and will make it illegal for anyone to light up a cigarette in a vehicle carrying someone under the age 18.
Welsh Government officials say the police will enforce the regulations "in conjunction with their wider road safety duties" and breaking them could result in a £50 fine or even a court appearance.
Wales' health minister Mark Drakeford said the new legislation will protect more youngsters from second-hand smoke. He said: "Some people believe that opening the window of a car will help disperse smoke but in reality it simply blows back in. It causes a real and substantial threat to children's health.
"Children cannot escape from the toxic chemicals contained in second-hand smoke when travelling in cars. They often don't have a choice over whether or not they travel in cars and may not feel able to ask an adult to stop smoking.
"The regulations will introduce a ban to protect children under 18 from the harms associated with second-hand smoke when travelling in private vehicles.
"As with the existing smoke-free regulations, success will not be based on the number of enforcement actions that are taken but by how behaviour, attitudes and health outcomes change over time."
Legislation banning smoking in enclosed public places was introduced in Wales in 2007. The law covered public and work vehicles but did not extend to private vehicles.
The new regulations will make it an offence to smoke in an enclosed private vehicle when more than one person is present, at least one of whom is under the age of 18, and for a driver to fail to prevent smoking in such circumstances.
The Labour-controlled Welsh Government believes legislation is necessary after its public health campaign Fresh Start Wales failed to produce the results officials had hoped.
