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Just how dangerous is eating while driving?

After having been involved in a car accident in Toms River, your first course of action (after seeing to your own well-being, that is) is likely to determine both who is at fault and why. The circumstances of your collision may make the first point easy to prove, but understanding the why can often be harder. No one typically wants to get into an accident; rather, it is simple distracting behaviors that usually lead to collisions.

When you think of distracted driving, you probably envision someone texting or otherwise using their cell phone while behind the wheel. Yet there is another major form of driving distraction that us much more prevalent and yet can be equally as dangerous. Indeed, eating while driving is often a contributing factor in motor vehicle accidents.

Just how dangerous is eating while driving? In a joint research effort between the Auto Alliance and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, study data was shared that showed that those who ate while behind the wheel were 3.6 times more likely to be involved in an accident than those who do not. Another study (whose results were shared by the New York Daily News) showed that some officials believe eating while driving to be to blame for as many as 80 percent of car accidents in America.

Why is eating while driving so distracting? Consider that one must take at least one of their hands off the steering wheel to eat something, and that while doing so, they must also pull their eyes and attention off the road ahead. Even if this action is momentary, it can be more than enough time to put their vehicle directly in your path and make a collision all but imminent.