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But she was smoking and there were two young children sitting in the back, one of them in a baby seat. A rear window may or may not have been open a couple of inches.
I caught her eye briefly and she extended a single digit gesture in my direction. She knew what I was getting at. In fairness, I had been far from subtle and it probably wasn't any of my business. After all, even though she was inflicting her secondhand smoke on two innocent kids, she wasn't breaking any laws.
Had we confronted one another, I'm certain she would have questioned my right to judge her parenting skills. I had no reason to doubt that her children were the centre of her universe; that she adored them and provided for most of their needs. So did I consider her to be a bad parent for smoking in a car with children? The truth is I did.
Predictably, smokers' group Forest Eireann have rejected a call by the Royal
College of Physicians of Ireland for a ban on smoking in cars with
children.
Their spokesperson John Mallon said: "We don't condone smoking in cars with children because it's
inconsiderate at best. People shouldn't do it and by and large they
don't.
"The overwhelming majority of parents who smoke wouldn't dream of
lighting up in a car carrying a child so why do we need a law that will
have almost no impact? It's heavy-handed and extremely patronising."
He added: "We urge the Government to focus on education, not legislation. That's the mature way to change people's behaviour."
Unfortunately, self regulation doesn't work well in this country. Even where smoking bans are in place - such as within the campus of Beaumont Hospital - I have seen them blatantly breached by patients and visitors, despite the best efforts of staff and management.
The only thing that works in Ireland is proper enforcement. Imagine trying to introduce a voluntary ban on smoking in the workplace in this country? One of the few things we can be grateful to Fianna Fail for is the introduction and policing of the smoking ban in pubs, which came into effect 10 years ago. It was one of those rare occasions when Ireland led the way by seeing through such a progressive health measure. Many other countries have since followed our lead.
The workplace ban has reportedly saved thousands of lives, reduced the level of heart attacks and led to a marked decline in the number of people smoking. Savvy publicans rose to the challenge by reinventing themselves as a thriving food business. Families can now enjoy a quality meal in their local pub without exposing their children to the risks associated with passive smoking. Those who still want to smoke can put on their jacket and head out to the beer garden.
The Minister for Health, James Reilly, has now promised that legislation will be published within weeks to deal with the issue of smoking in cars when children are present. He noted that while gardai would be able to enforce the issue, they probably wouldn't have to due to peer pressure from other motorists. With respect, I have to disagree with Minister Reilly on such a naive assumption. If the disapproving looks of responsible parents was enough of a deterrent, we wouldn't need legislation in the first place.
Parents who smoke in cars when their children are passengers need a short, sharp shock to change their irresponsible behaviour. A combination of penalty points and hefty fines will be required to show them the error of their ways. But legislation will only be effective if proper Garda resources are provided to enforce the measure - just look at the amount of drivers you still see using their mobile phones behind the wheel on a daily basis.
This Government once again has a golden opportunity to be progressive when it comes to reducing the impact of smoking on public health. Politicians will need to pull out all the stops to get the measure through urgently because this time the protection of our children is involved.
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