VANCOUVER, Wash. -- Some lawmakers in Washington state are hoping to pass legislation banning smoking in cars carrying children.

Supporters said they're looking for sponsors as the new session of the state legislature gets underway in Olympia.

The proposed law would expand a program already in force in Tacoma and Pierce County.

The last time regulations were added to smokers’ habits in Washington was in 2005 when an initiative banning smoking in bars and restaurants passed. A similar law began clearing the inside air in Oregon’s public places last week.

But the law expected to be proposed in Washington’s legislature this term would reach into a driver’s personal space. If passed, a person could continue to smoke in his or her car unless a child was present.

"There’s no level of secondhand smoke that is safe. A car in particular is a closed environment that increases exposure to secondhand smoke," said Sondra Storm of the Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition.

Everyone asked in a random sample of downtown Vancouver agreed that adults should not smoke around their kids.

"I’m a smoker myself and I’m trying to quit. So like, the car thing, on the kids, that’s awesome. I don’t smoke around my kids anyway. But it irritates me when I see other parents doing it," said mother and smoker Rachel Chavarria.

But who should see to it that parents don’t light up around children was an altogether different question.

"That’s just taking away rights, you know. You have the right to do whatever you want. But parents should know not to smoke in cars with their kids anyhow," said Danny West who opposes the law.

The bill still needs sponsors in Olympia, so isn't set in stone, but backers said it wouldn't direct police to stop people for smoking only. If the officer pulled someone over for another violation, he or she could be ticketed for smoking around children, too.

"It seems like it would be difficult to enforce, but it probably is a good idea, especially on long trips. I had a son. I used to smoke, and I feel bad for him, when I didn’t really know about exposing him to secondhand smoke," ex-smoker Penny Trujillo said. "I also see it as a distraction, like the cell phone."

Whether sponsors can attract enough votes to pass the no smoking in the car with children law remains to be seen. But a health department spokeswoman said preliminary studies indicate that the health of workers in Washington’s bars and restaurants appears to be improving, three years after smoking was banned there.

Law Would Mean No Smoking With Kids In Car