The complaints, fidgeting, questions and constant nagging are a staple of a family trip. Most parents would think their kids were sick if they did not do at least one, if not all of the things mentioned above.

But one thing that parents do not always understand is that smoking in the car can seriously harm your child. Second hand smoke can kill just as fast as inhaling it directly from the cigarette. In a car, it is even worse, because of the fact that it is such a confined space.

Instead of screaming and fighting in the backseat, you might be hearing coughing.

The confined smoke might also cause your child to get asthma or other respiratory illnesses. Is that smoke really worth your harming your child for?

There are all sorts of other dangers that come with smoking in the car too. For instance, you might flick that cigarette butt out the window and have it fly back in and strike your kid. It could also hit you in the eye or cause a fire in the car.

It might be something slightly less dangerous like having the heater of the cigarette fall off and burn a hole in your upholstery, possibly costing you hundreds of dollars if you wish to repair it.

Maybe that same heater falls into your lap, burning you and causing you to swerve off the road, or even worse, hit another vehicle. What if your kids are in the car at the time?

Ask yourself if it is really worth it?

Your kids should be your primary concern. Their welfare is the most important thing to you, yet somehow you overlook the harm that you do when you smoke in the car with them in it.

How is it that your addiction blinds you to this fact? If you are one of the parents who do smoke in the car, while your kids giggle in the backseat, can you deny how selfish you are being?

Kids are innocent, and they do not understand the health risks that come with smoking, but you do. Kids depend on their parents to keep them safe, love them and guide them in the right direction.