Raise your hands now and tell the truth! Who doesn’t eat while driving! But, experts say eating while driving can be hazardous to your health – a recipe for disaster!
According to a 2006 study recently released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, 80% of crashes and 65% of near-crashes involve some form of driver distraction within three seconds before the crash.
Cell phone usage led the list of distracting activities, but daydreaming, personal hygiene, and EATING while driving, were also spotlighted.
Now, online newspapers are having a field day with follow-up stories about eating while driving – some with more humor than accuracy.
Here’s a sampling:
Headline from the NYDailyNews.com: Eating while driving causes 80% of all car accidents, study shows ----- (Editor’s note: Not really – but nice try.)
Read the story: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/07/19/2009-07-19_eatdrive_sure_recipe_for_a_crash.html#ixzz0hK1L1Kyl
The Boston Globe / Boston.com did a “man on the street” style survey and reported the following about Boston area residents’ eating-while-driving habits:
A Northeastern University student, age 19, keeps one hand on the wheel while the other holds a slice of pizza. “You can manage it,’’ says the Newton resident. “It’s hard to use the phone and the pizza and the car, though.’’
A 54-year-old Boxford, MA resident tells the story of a woman she saw sipping espresso from a tiny china cup while driving in Cambridge. “She had her pinkie finger up in the air.’’ ( A real proper Bostonian, no doubt.)
A 45 year-old woman from Plainfield, Vt., says she eats toast in her car while driving to work, even though “there’s always a possibility that you’ll show up with a few crumbs on your chest.’’
Read more here: http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/food/articles/2009/10/14/dining_while_driving_theres_many_a_slip_twixt_cup_and_lip_but_that_doesnt_stop_us/
Here’s another article from MoneyCentral.msn.com, citing an official eating-while-driving “restraining order.”
Hagerty Classic Insurance, a classic car insurance company, began looking more closely at the problem of eating behind the wheel after a DMV check on an insurance applicant turned up a "restraining order" against anything edible within his reach while driving.
In looking into the company's claims history, Hagerty found that drivers had the most problems during morning commutes, when spills were likely to mar their work attire. Many of those motorists ran into trouble not so much from eating, as from trying to clean up spills while still driving.
Next Hagerty did a study to see which foods are the Top 10 worst offenders.
1. Coffee: It always finds a way out of the cup.
2. Hot soup: Many people drink it like coffee and run the same risks.
3. Tacos: A food that can disassemble itself without much help, leaving your car looking like a salad bar.
4. Chili: The potential for drips and slops down the front of clothing is significant.
5. Hamburgers: From the grease of the burger to the ketchup and mustard on top, plenty of goop can end up on your hands, clothes and steering wheel.
6. Barbecued food: Similar issue arises for barbecued foods as for hamburgers. The sauce may be great, but it will end up on whatever you touch.
7. Fried chicken: Another food that leaves you with greasy hands, which means constantly wiping them on something, even if it's your shirt. It also makes the steering wheel greasy.
8. Jelly- or cream-filled doughnuts: Has anyone ever eaten a jelly doughnut without some of the center oozing out? And jelly can be difficult to remove from material.
9. Soft drinks: Not only are they subject to spills, but they also can fizz as you're drinking them if you make sudden movements. Most of us have childhood memories of soda fizz in the nose; the sensation isn't any more pleasant now.
10. Chocolate: Like greasy foods, chocolate can coat your fingers as it melts against the warmth of your skin, leaving its mark anywhere you touch. Try to clean it off the steering wheel and you could end up unintentionally swerving.
Read more at:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourCar/10-worst-foods-to-eat-while-driving.aspx
And here’s just one more citation, as it were, for the road:
Celebrity Football Player Arrested for Eating Pizza, while driving….
http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/12/30/saints-mccray-arrested-for-driving-while-eating-pizza/
What I really want to know: How dangerous is it to be texting a food order to your favorite sub shop while you’re driving?
Share your thoughts with us on this all consuming topic! And seriously, don’t eat and drive!
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