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.
The top 10 food offenders in a car are:
Coffee: It always finds a way out of the cup.
Hot soup: Many people drink it like coffee and run the same risks.
Tacos: “A food that can disassemble itself without much help, leaving your car looking like a salad bar,” says Hagerty.
Chili: The potential for drips and slops down the front of clothing is significant.
Hamburgers: From the grease of the burger to ketchup and mustard, it could all end up on your hands, your clothes, and the steering wheel.
Barbecued food: The same issue arises for barbecued foods as for hamburgers. The sauce may be great, but if you have to lick your fingers, the sauce will end up on whatever you touch.
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.
Jelly or cream-filled donuts: Has anyone eaten a jelly donut without some of the center oozing out? Raspberry jelly can be difficult at best to remove from material.
Soft drinks: Not only are they subject to spills, but also the carbonated kind can fizz as you’re drinking if you make sudden movements, and most of us remember cola fizz in the nose from childhood. It isn’t any more pleasant now.
Chocolate: Like greasy foods, chocolate coats the fingers as it melts against the warmth of your skin, and leaves its mark anywhere you touch. As you try to clean it off the steering wheel you’re likely to end up swerving.
Source: http://www.insure.com/car-insurance/driver-distractions.html
Reads like satire — but I think they are serious.
I saw a woman behind me at a light, eating a bowl of cereal. Spoon and everything. I would be worried about spilling the whole dang thing and having that spoiled milk smell in the car forever. She looked like an old pro at it.
Remember that Japanese model that had a small microwave oven built into the console?