Eating and driving is as risky

AS USING A PHONE AT THE WHEEL

By Ben Webster

The Times

August 18, 2006

Drivers who eat and drink at the wheel are twice as likely to have a crash, a study has indicated. They try to compensate for the distractions of eating and drinking by driving more slowly and carefully, but they are often unable to brake in time to avoid a collision.

The risk is similar to using a handheld mobile phone while driving, for which the fixed penalty is to be raised from a £30 to a £60 fine plus three points.

Road safety groups said that the absence of any legislation or clear guidance on the dangers of eating and drinking while driving encouraged motorists to think it was safe.

The research found that a third of people sometimes used handheld mobile phones while driving, but three quarters ate or drank at the wheel.

The 26 participants in the study by Brunel University were asked to drive a Ford Mondeo simulator on an urban route, once without eating and once while eating from a bag of wrapped sweets or drinking from a bottle of water. The simulator would show a pedestrian suddenly stepping into the road and then measure the drivers’ responses.

Even though the participants tended to slow down while unwrapping a sweet or unscrewing and raising the bottle to their lips, they were still twice as likely to hit the pedestrian.

The study, commissioned by Privilege Insurance, concluded: “Drivers’ mental workload was significantly higher when eating or drinking, suggesting that the consumption of refreshments reduces a driver’s ability to deal with other events.

“Drivers may not perceive the risk to be any higher than other menial in-car tasks, but the impaired reactions suggest they should exert caution.”

Mark Young, the Brunel lecturer who carried out the study, said that drinking was found to be more dangerous than eating, possibly because drinking involved drivers’ tipping their heads back and concentrating on avoiding spillages.

He said: “There ought to be specific advice and a publicity campaign about the dangers of eating and drinking while driving. However, legislation would be very difficult because where would you stop? Would you ban people from changing radio channels?” His review of research on the topic had found that there could be other health benefits from avoiding food or drink while at the wheel, he said.

“Nutritionists have expressed concern that eating at the wheel is unhealthy, since the kinds of foods drivers eat at the wheel are typically fast food — and consequently high in fat and salt,” he said. “Psychiatrists suggest that patients with eating disorders are more likely to binge-eat while driving.”

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said it advised people to stop in a safe place if they wanted a snack.

The dangers had been demonstrated by two fatal crashes in recent years caused by drivers eating or drinking, it said.

In 2001 Thomas Munch- Petersen, a lecturer at University College London, was jailed for 90 days for killing three people on the M1 after swerving while searching for a mint in his jacket pocket.

In 2003 Andrew Suffolk was jailed for 30 months for killing a pregnant woman in a crash on the M1. He admitted taking his eyes off the road for a moment to drink some water.

Rob Gifford, director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, said that the risk depended on the type of food. “Opening a packet of crisps or unwrapping a sweet might involve both hands,” he said, “but any food might be distracting. Drivers tend to underestimate how complex a task it is to drive a car safely. People lead busier lives and think they can do other things while sitting behind the wheel.”

The Highway Code advises drivers to avoid eating and drinking at the wheel. It states: “Safe driving needs concentration. Avoid distractions when driving such as loud music, trying to read maps, inserting a cassette or CD, arguing with your passengers or other road users and eating or drinking.”

The Department for Transport said that it had no plans for specific measures against eating and drinking, but that the research had provided useful information.

A MATTER OF CONTROL

· Drivers can be prosecuted for failing to have proper control of a vehicle if they are caught eating or drinking. If they have a crash while consuming food or drink, they can be charged with careless or dangerous driving

· Last year, a removal lorry driver who ate a packet of crisps and steered with his elbows while negotiating a mini-roundabout was fined £250

· A nursery nurse was fined £60 last year for holding an apple in her hand while driving around a bend. Police used a video shot from a force aircraft and a video recording from a police car to support their case against her in court

· In 2000, an accountant was fined £40 for drinking from a bottle of water at traffic lights and then driving off while still holding the bottle of water in her hand.

9. Read the text. Compare yourself with these accident magnets from Boston. Do you see yourself here? Do you happen to know any dangerous drivers?

ARE YOU A DANGEROUS DRIVER? 10 WAYS TO TELL

www. insure.com

July 31, 2005

Bad habits range from road rage to eating while driving. Compare yourself with these accident magnets from Boston. Do you see yourself here?

Surely you've seen them on the road: They're swerving in and out of lanes, ignoring rules of the road, and engaging in other rude -- and dangerous - behavior. Or maybe you are that bad driver?

Compare yourself with a focus group of 30 drivers from Boston who have collectively been involved in 84 accidents over the past three years and received 49 speeding tickets, 39 moving violations and 92 parking tickets. Take a look at these questions to find out if you fit the profile.

• When you reach a stop sign and no one is coming from another direction, do you roll through instead of stopping? An overwhelming majority (87%) of the bad drivers say they should be able to speed, go through stop signs, and break other driving rules and regulations as long as no one gets hurt.
• Do you talk on the cell phone while driving instead of pulling off and stopping to talk? A total of 77% of bad drivers say they do this either frequently or occasionally. Only 13% say they never talk on a cell phone while driving.
• Do you take your coffee and muffin or other food and drink on the road with you, driving with one hand while using the other to eat? Some 60% of those in the study say they either frequently or occasionally eat while they're driving. In fact, several of the participants say they have spilled drinks and attempted to clean up the spill while driving.
• If you're out shopping in a crowded area and are looking for a parking space, do you become so focused on your search that you lose sight of the cars and pedestrians around you? More than half of the participants say that when they're trying to find a parking space in a crowded area, they can become so focused that they become oblivious to other drivers and pedestrians and often get into accidents, whether on the street or in a parking lot.
• Do you hate driving behind SUVs or other large vehicles that obstruct your view? More than 60% of bad drivers say they are frustrated driving behind SUVs because they are wide and tall and block their vision. In fact, more than 70% believe SUVs should be required to drive in a separate lane on the highway.
• Does your driving change when you go into areas with higher police presence? Nearly all of the participants strongly agree with the statement that they drive more carefully when they know police are in the area. In addition, most participants say they check their rearview mirrors regularly for police cars.
• Does listening to music while you drive sometimes leave you oblivious to all but the music? Some 93% of participants say they listen to the radio while driving, and 73% of them listen to music. Most say listening to the radio has often caused them to become distracted and in some cases they say listening to loud music has caused them to be more aggressive on the highway.
• Do you find yourself in confrontations on the road, either through verbal arguments or hand gestures, because of either your own driving habits or the habits of others? While 87% of the bad drivers consider themselves at least somewhat courteous drivers if not very courteous, at least half also admit making obscene or rude gestures or comments to other drivers, particularly those who cut in front of them on the highway. Participants also say, however, that they appreciate a thank-you gesture for letting another driver into their lane, and often give a wave of thanks themselves when they cut into traffic.
• Does your "work hard, play hard" lifestyle leave you sleepy behind the wheel at times? About 50% of those in the study say they have almost fallen asleep while driving and an additional 10% say they have wanted to shut their eyes while driving and almost did. The study found that most participants lead a busy lifestyle that sometimes leaves them sleep-deprived.
• When you're driving with passengers, do you turn around to talk, taking your eyes and mind off the road? Nearly all group members acknowledged that they are distracted when they have passengers in their vehicles, and most say during conversations they'll turn their heads and stop paying attention to the road. This held true especially for drivers with small children.

If your answers agree with the answers from the focus group, it's likely you tend to be a more aggressive driver than average. Like members of the study, you may also pay more for your auto insurance. Within the study group, 53% pay a surcharge on their auto insurance because of their driving records.

Outgoing, confident, and a menace.
These bad drivers have other characteristics that you may recognize in your own life. Most say they lead very stressful lives without enough time to accomplish all their activities in a day. They all consider themselves either somewhat or very outgoing, and all have a fair to great amount of confidence in the way they behave. And 90% say they've told a "little white lie" to protect someone's feelings.

The group was broken down into three age groups, from 18 to 25 years old, 26 to 45 years old, and 46 to 59 years old. There were 19 men and 11 women in the study, commissioned by RightFind Technology, a company developing new products to help insurers make better decisions on auto insurance rates for specific drivers.

While the study is based on a small group and should be considered a hypothesis rather than a conclusion, "our study identified several personality attributes that seem clearly linked to accident involvement," says Donald Bashline, one of the owners of RightFind. "Witnessing these focus groups was a revelation."

Read the article. Sum it up. Do you think this initiative will make roads safer.

DRIVING AGE COULD RISE TO 18 TO MAKE ROADS SAFER

By Ray Massey
The Daily Mail

September, 2006

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