When several communities considered following Bangor’s lead in banning smoking in cars carrying children, local leaders said a statewide prohibition would be better than a patchwork of local rules. State lawmakers soon will have an opportunity to pass such a ban. They should take it.

Bangor Rep. Pat Blanchette, herself a half-pack-a-day smoker, has filed language for a statewide ban, to be considered by lawmakers next year. She submitted the bill at the prompting of Bangor children’s dentist Jonathan Shenkin who spearheaded the city ordinance.

Rep. Blanchette said she proposed the legislation because children don’t have a choice about exposing themselves to the risks from secondhand smoke. In addition, the public bears a large financial cost in providing health care to many children exposed to smoking.

For such reasons, the state’s foster care program already prohibits parents from smoking in their vehicles when children are present.

Bans on smoking in cars, which several other states have adopted, are not as much about writing tickets as educating the public. By that measure, it appears the Bangor ban is making a difference.

According to Peter Arno, Bangor’s deputy police chief, no tickets have been written for violations of the city’s nearly year-old ordinance. However, he said he has noticed a decrease in the number of people smoking in cars with children in them.

A recent study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine reinforced what has been known generally for years: Tobacco smoke inhaled by nonsmokers can harm their health, and children who are forced to inhale because they are riding in a car with someone who is smoking are especially vulnerable. According to the Ontario Medical Association, the toxic effects of smoking in a car are 23 times greater than secondhand smoke in a home. Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke are at greater risk for respiratory infections, ear infections, more severe asthma symptoms and sudden infant death.

Still, too many people, parents included, expose children to these risks.

A survey last year, done with the help of Penquis Community Action Program, asked 44 women whether they expose their children to secondhand smoke and under what conditions. “Riding in a car” was the top condition cited, with 21 women saying they did this, although many emphasized that they had a window open, an ineffective strategy according to recent studies.

It is difficult to support another regulation telling individuals what to do, and publicity about the harm that comes from smoking is so pervasive that most people should have gotten the message. For those who haven’t, however, a state ban will bring attention to the problem and is a reasonable answer.