Posted on 11/12/2013 7:48:38 AM PST by BenLurkin
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Experts say eating while driving can increase a motorist’s chances of a car accident by 80 percent.
Ryan Harrison, an editor in Burbank, said long hours at work means more time in his car.
“I’d rather just eat on the way home, so I’m killing two birds with one stone,” he said. “I would make scrambled eggs before I go to work and then I’d eat them on the way to work, and I’d also eat yogurt. It’s definitely convenience.”
With so little time and so much traffic, Los Angeles freeways have turned Harrison’s car into a personal dining room.
“There is so much traffic here that you have to drive so slowly and there are so many stop lights,” he said. “I need to eat while I’m driving just to save time.”
Officer Juan Galvan of the California Highway Patrol office in Glendale said that while Harrison’s behavior isn’t illegal, it is unsafe.
“Usually when people take a bite and if they spill, what’s your first reaction? Your first reaction is to let go of the steering wheel or drop whatever it is you’re doing because you want to clean up the mess you possibly caused,” Galvan said.
Law enforcement officials say much like texting and driving, eating also falls under the category of distracted driving.
Asked if the CHP has seen an increase in drivers who eat, Galvan said, “We did have a [Distracted Driving Awareness Month] in April. Over 10,000 enforcement contacts were made and over 240 citations were issued for an unsafe speed related to distracted driving. So, quite possibly, there could have been a good majority that were eating.”
The officer added, “We don’t have a specific section, but for somebody that is eating while driving, now we can go with the unsafe speed section. What is the safe speed for you to eat and drive? The safe speed is ‘zero.’”
Harrison said there’s more to the distracted driving debate than just taking a bite behind the wheel.
“If they make it so you can’t eat and drive, they should take away being able to put on make-up. I’m not going to be eating my hamburger if I’m trying to get across six lanes of traffic and avoid pedestrians and stuff,” he said.
Distracted drivers can be cited anywhere from $100 to $500, or even more.
So do kids cause distraction.....experts - ha!
Nice demographic if you can get it.
Experts. Sounds like the findings from a multi-million dollar, government funded study. The true “experts” are the ones who are smart enough to get grants to do studies with obvious answers.
I am also an expert!
Driving cars causes accidents therefore ban cars.
Yeah. I know my siblings sure did.
Of course my Dad never took his eyes off the road — he simply reached back with one hand and pinched whoever he got his hands on first. And he was a quick sob, too.
Get em up against the wall.
I like how some people think that your car exerts some sort of privacy shield. I watched a good looking gals go one knuckle deep the other day at a stop light. She had tinted windows but didn’t think about all the back lighting from the storefront next to us.
WOW how insightful. Anything that distracts you from paying full attention to your driving increases the chances of an accident DUH.
Only people who are stupid eat, comb, phone or text while driving. When I get beside them I hit the horn long and loud.
Oh yeah!! These folks are “experts” on eating and driving your car. HAHAHAHHAHHHAH!!!!!!!
Hahahahahahahahaha!
When we were kids back in the early sixties (we had six, and my dad was at sea most of the time, so you can imagine how stressed out my mom was) we would call my mom “Old Leadfoot”.
When we were acting up, she would take that 1964 Chrysler New Yorker station wagon with the 500 cubic inch engine up to about 100 mph, and we would cry “Mom! Slow down!” with tears in our eyes, and she would yell back “I’m not slowing down until you behave!”
And we would behave.
Now, she would likely be in jail for child abuse!
(She lined us all up one day, and pretended to call an orphanage to take us, because she couldn’t handle us anymore! Bawling, we cried “Mom! Please don’t send us to the orphanage!”
LOL, I admire her originality! (God rest her soul!)
When I eat while driving I stop texting, searching for a cd and put my beer in the cup holder. Much safer./sarc
I suppose it might be a little distracting for some to eat a steak and potato entre while crusing down the turnpike but surely a simple bowl of soup should be doable.
Apparently KFC did!
Why, I never would have guessed this. I am sure glad I was told about it now by experts.
LOL! Great stories. Thanks. :)
So does looking in your rear mirror, futzing with the audio entertainment center, watching the portable DVD player that’s mounted on the dash, watching or manipulating the GPS, children sitting in the backseat that need to be backhanded for causing problems to their fellow siblings, smoking, and on and on and on.
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