The Dangers Of Eating And Driving
Michael Babboni
Car Accidents
Eating is one of the worst forms of distracted driving! Yet during a study of 1,000 drivers found that over 70 percent of drivers admit to eating while behind the wheel and 83 percent admit to drink beverages while they drive.Furthermore, a study done by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) concluded that those who eat and drive increases the odds of an accident by around 80 percent! They have also concluded that 65 percent of near miss accidents are caused by distracted drivers fussing around with food and drinks. As a matter of fact, eating while driving has caused much more accidents than even texting while driving has.
Most of these food related accidents occur during morning hours and is especially frequent for those that are already running late. For those trying to get a quick bite before work are more likely to worry about messes and spills than normal and thus are much more distractible by food than normal. Not to mention that running late is likely to already be a huge distraction to you as it is.
Here are just a few of the foods and beverages that are especially dangerous while you are on the road:
1) Coffee
The most dangerous food item of all is coffee! When we think of eating while driving, we typically think of solid foods. However, coffee is responsible for more distracted driving accidents than any other food item. With how easy it is to get a coffee to go, its popularity, and with its hot temperature, coffee in the car can too easily cause a mess of trouble.
2) Hot Soup
This may seem like a strange meal to eat on the road, but many soups have been made to easily go with you on the go. However, much like coffee, the hot temperature makes it extremely problematic to have on the road. Despite their portable “sippy cup” look, it still is too easy to spill and distract yourself from driving or paying attention to your surroundings.
3) Tacos
Like soup, this probably sounds like a strange meal to take with you on the go. However, with Taco Bell opened all night long, it is real easy to grab a nice taco for the road. It does not take much for a taco to get messy and distracting, causing you to easily get into an accident. Despite how eager you may be to dig into your taco, always wait until you get home.
4) Chili
Anything that contains chili such as a chili dog, sloppy Joe or Coney dog is obviously quite dangerous and distracting. As fantastic as chili is, it is all too easy for it to get on everything including your hands and the steering wheel. This not only takes your focus off the road, but makes it much harder for you to steer. Though it doesn’t seem like a common thing to eat while you are driving, it has the number 4 spot for a reason.
5) Juicy Burgers
If it can drip, it will find its way into your car. Don’t let your 3 dollar burger turn into 500 hundred dollar deductible or an even more expensive accident. As one of the most frequently consumed items in vehicles, many people are pretty used to the idea of eating them in the car. It has become extremely normalized in our society with the large amounts of fast food companies that have made it all too easy to grab and go.
Other dangerous foods include anything with barbecue sauce on it, fried chicken, jelly and cream filled or powdered donuts, soft drinks, and just about anything with chocolate. Much like many of the ones listed above, these foods tend to be extremely messy and are much more likely to cause distraction.