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Home » Driving » Distractions » Eating may be top driving distraction

Eating may be top driving distraction


They may not think it's safe, but most drivers responding to a new poll admit to keeping one eye and one hand on a meal while driving. Eating a meal turned out to be the most-common distracting activity drivers undertake. In fact, 65 percent of drivers stated they eat while driving, according to a PEMCO Insurance poll on driver distraction.

While eating took the top spot on the survey, 58 percent of drivers acknowledged they talk on a cell phone while driving. Drivers also thought both eating and cell phone use while driving were unsafe, along with several other common driving distractions. The poll of 600 Washington residents also asked drivers to rate the danger of several common distracted driving activities. Each activity was rated on a scale from one to five, with one being "completely safe" and five being "very dangerous."

While 65 percent of respondents admitted to eating a meal while driving, that activity received a "danger rating" of 3.8 on the five-point scale. Talking on a cell phone was regarded as a 4.0 in danger, while reading a newspaper or book, something only six percent of drivers admit to, got the top danger rating of 4.9. Writing a text message (4.8), applying makeup or shaving (4.6) and the ever-popular steering with legs and no hands on wheel (4.7) also recorded serious danger rankings from the respondents. Some 25 percent of all drivers say they have steered with no hands at some time in their driving lives, while 14 percent say they have applied makeup or shaved.

"We found that when drivers eat food or call a friend, they do so despite thinking it's dangerous," said Jon Osterberg, PEMCO Insurance spokesperson. "Our goal is to help drivers understand that when they do that, they're going against their better judgment."

The poll showed a significant trend: the more drivers admitted to performing a distracting activity, the less dangerous they saw that activity.

© Studio One NetworksEnd of Article


Comments

rebecca, on Tuesday, 22. May 2007 at 11:38 AM

THIS IS SO TRUE!!!! FOOD IS NOT MEANT TO BE EATEN WHILE DRIVING! YOUL B EVEN MORE HUNGRYER WHEN YOU EAT AND DRIVE BEC U WNT BE LOOKING AT THE FODD>>>>>

Eric, on Thursday, 07. June 2007 at 11:22 AM

Is that English? Sounds like you are typing and eating.

Bill, on Saturday, 30. June 2007 at 03:19 PM

I hate people who eat in their cars

Jill, on Tuesday, 10. July 2007 at 11:14 AM

People should eat at home........

Jessica, on Sunday, 22. July 2007 at 05:09 AM

That's so selfish, what if somthing goes wrong? they could seriously hurt other people.

whatever, on Monday, 23. July 2007 at 05:42 PM

ya...i think driving & eating is a serious problem...but driving and talking on cell phones is a much bigger problem.

Heather mae, on Thursday, 04. October 2007 at 10:20 AM

wow.... i completely agree eating should be a home activity and not something you do in a car. I know alot of people who eat and drive...it's stupid and irresponcible.!!!!

you just lost, on Monday, 19. November 2007 at 09:53 PM

Holy crapola I mean seriously! mutated chickens should have the same rights as everyone else! I have seen enough roadkill chickens to know that if their brother was not being eaten on the road, they probably would have survived into the second lane!

Right, on Wednesday, 21. November 2007 at 06:09 PM

Yeah yeah yeah....let's make another law to help the nanny state/big brother force us to do something else that is pc....give me a break.

Look at both sides, on Friday, 23. November 2007 at 12:31 PM

I eat and drive and although it is probably a little dangerous, it's no mo dangerous than talking while your driving. Some people can't afford to sit down at home and eat, some people work 12 hours and go to school for 5 after that. Leaving little time to sit down and have a meal.

AlyKat, on Tuesday, 27. November 2007 at 01:18 PM

i do think it's a little dangerous to eat while driving but this isn't about that. i have a friend who does the knee driving-look no hands thing he says it's no biggy but i think other wise i mean he could get in a serious car accident i love him and i don't want him to get hurt!! i just hope that if i show him this he might do it a little less!!

angie, on Thursday, 20. December 2007 at 03:48 PM

dont eat to much donats or else u will die and swirve

Brad, on Friday, 04. January 2008 at 12:00 PM

German cars have lost sales in the US because they did not have cup holders. We shouldn't have anything in our cars! Just put the food down, cell phone off and drive!

DK, on Friday, 04. January 2008 at 04:46 PM

Sorry Brad. Disagree. My car (BMW 325i) does have cupholders in the front, but none in the back. The salesman told me Germans don't believe in drinking coffee and driving, but then why the cupholders in front.
The reality is that the 325i is a sportscar disguised as a sedan. It has no place to put a cell phone, no place to put CDs, a small glove compartment. "Put the food down, cell phone off and drive" is a bit simple. We eat and phone in our cars and we should do it safely, but it's a reality and there are all kinds of benefits. For example, phoning ahead to re-schedule takes away a lot driving stress and improves both safety and traffic flow. The cell phone allows me to get traffic info from other drivers and to avoid unnecessary driving.
The 325i is a very nice car to drive but its designed to do a kind of driving that is both unnecessary and illegal on public roads.
A driver with any serious skill and knowhow will NEVER even come close to using all that handling capability.

whatever, on Sunday, 06. January 2008 at 03:30 PM

i think you guys are all over exaggerating! yes eating is a dangerous habit but you guys act as if its like the worst thing in the world and everyone who eats in their car is like a huge sinner! give it a rest and just chill out!

Kel, on Wednesday, 09. January 2008 at 11:56 AM

All of you are taking this pole the wrong way, ever heard the saying knowledge is power. The safe you are the safer we all are. It's not a sin, but it is safer to just pay attention while driving. Hand free sets and power bars will help all that can't do without. Have a blessed day and be safe.

Why not, on Wednesday, 23. January 2008 at 10:09 AM

Just eat at red lights. That way you're stopped and not being dangerous. Thats how I have done it in the past.

Hannah, on Thursday, 13. March 2008 at 11:25 PM

Are u kidding?! Eating at red lights is NOT going to help! u will b so focused on food, ur response time wont b so good so it'll take more time to respond when the light turns green. thats not a smart idea. SAVE EATING 4 WHEN UR AT HOME PEOPLE!

Hannah, on Thursday, 13. March 2008 at 11:29 PM

oh, by the way. we dont think its a sin to eat while u drive, whatever, its that ur response time is slower so u could cause an accident, then it would b YOUR FAULT!

Jewel, on Friday, 04. April 2008 at 10:51 AM

Look,i don't know what its like to be a person in college that has to work, go to school, and have no time to eat. I'm in high school. But, what i do know is that driving while being distracted such as eating food is unsafe for you and other people on the road. So do yourself and everyone else a favor and don't drive distracted. Those of you that say it isn't a big deal well it is when your the cause of a crash that kills. Think about it.

your gay, on Thursday, 10. April 2008 at 09:47 AM

Half of you here don't even speak the english language correctly. Rebecca is probably from Cyprus, so its ok that she doesn't speak english correctly. Donats? Swirve? Bec? Fodd? Come on people.

Lux, on Wednesday, 16. April 2008 at 07:24 AM

Seriously. You're response time is NOT always slower due to eating food, it is dependant on many things, for the most part, the person. You are complete idiots if you factor in numbers and not common sense. You will be so overworked about what you "should not" do while driving that it will be much more stressful than the relaxing state of comfort you get from the several commodoties vehicles these days provide. "your gay," I agree with you. Because as for myself, I love eating "donats" while I "swirve" all over your lane, but you wanna know something? I'm swirving because I want to hit the idiot, you, who is enforcing all of this BS.

Shaquala, on Thursday, 01. May 2008 at 02:09 PM

I do think driving and eating is dangerous. But if ur skilled enough to pull it of w/o hurting ny1 and u have absolutely no time available to eat other wise then its acceptable

mimi, on Friday, 02. May 2008 at 01:40 PM

well some people can eat and drive at the same but its not safe for any who has to be on the same road b'cuz they could get hit or some thing.

Kendra, on Wednesday, 14. May 2008 at 12:50 PM

Thank God you can spell!

Laura, on Monday, 09. June 2008 at 08:21 AM

how dare you use the Lord's name in vein!

bdizzle., on Monday, 16. June 2008 at 04:55 AM

oh lordy.....i eat and drive:)

BIZZZZY, on Friday, 03. October 2008 at 12:48 PM

everyone shut up

what?, on Tuesday, 14. October 2008 at 09:27 PM

is it too hard to ask to just stop in a parking lot for FIVE minutes, FIVE FUCKING MINUTES!!! and eat your shitty greasy ass burger there? huh? I mean youd rather eat a drive and put not only yourself in danger but everyone around you? What if a slice of pickle falls on to the center console and you look down to pick it up, the second you look back at the road your staring at the front on a semi like its the barrel of a fully loaded Smith&Wesson M29 .44 Magnum. And you like SHIT SHIT SHIT!....overcorrection time! bam you hit the side of the railing thats preventing you from falling into a 60 degree drop, skkkrch! back onto the other side of the road and your car flips over. You wake up in a hospital with multiple lacerations to the torso and youve lost control of you body from the waist down. All because you couldnt stop for FIVE minutes, FIVE FUCKING MINUTES!!! and enjoy your greasy-ass-congestive-heart-failure-causing-burger you end up having some sick scars and your are put into a wheelchair for life...nice job.

when?, on Friday, 17. October 2008 at 06:16 PM

Angry much?

=], on Wednesday, 05. November 2008 at 10:21 PM

You argue that if you can eat while driving without any problem then its fine.. but you can also talk on the phone and drive.. why is talking on the phone more dangerous than eating in the car? when all you do when talking on the phone is hold the phone and talk and when eating depending on what you have you have to unwrap, make sure it doesn's spill and etc?

one more point.. shit happens.. even if you are careful there are shitty drivers out there.. hence the reason why, most of the time, there is always 1 innocent driver, who did nothing wrong.

jack, on Thursday, 20. November 2008 at 09:49 PM

FUBAR
fubar
FUBAR
fubar
FUBAR
fubar

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