Eating-while-driving citation: Have distracted-driving laws gone too far?
To eat, or not to eat鈥攖hat is the question. If driving in Georgia, the answer is no, unless you want a ticket.
In Marietta, Georgia, Madison Turner of Alabama was enjoying a double Quarter Pounder with cheese while cruising on a highway. A police officer pulled him over, told Mr. Turner that he witnessed him eating the McDonald鈥檚 cheeseburger for about two miles, and then issued him a ticket for violating Georgia鈥檚 distracted driving law. , 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just go down the road eating a hamburger鈥� three times, Turner said.
The law does not explicitly include 鈥渆ating while driving鈥� in its verbiage. It does say: 鈥淎 driver shall on the highways of this state and shall not engage in any actions which shall distract such driver from the safe operation of such vehicle.鈥�
鈥淢aybe I was enjoying the burger too much; I needed to tone it down. I was certainly willing to do so, but I didn鈥檛 expect to be fined or punished,鈥� .
Cobb County police spokesman Mike Bowman said the department would not comment, since it is an ongoing case. Turner鈥檚 court date is scheduled for February 3.
So what does 鈥渄istracted driving鈥� entail?
In 2012, then-Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was photographed in the act of , after which he defended himself by saying, 鈥淚鈥檓 a busy man.鈥�
A few years ago, Rhode Island legislator Peter Palumbo with a hefty ticket of $125 for those who let their canine friends sit behind the wheel.
Cecilia Abadie got a ticket in San Diego for driving and wearing Google Glasses at the same time. And many drivers simply get lost in thought; Forbes reported in 2013 that 62 percent of distracted driving fatalities were a .
According to the latest data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on the Georgia Governor鈥檚 Office of Highway Safety website, in 2012 more than in crashes involving distracted drivers, and another 421,000 were injured. NHTSA also estimates that drivers are distracted while driving about . While talking on cell phones often gets highlighted 鈥� since it distracts on a cognitive, visual, and physical level 鈥� other behaviors such as eating, smoking, drinking, talking, or fiddling with the car are also culprits.
Across the country, more states have adopted laws to prevent distracted driving. Currently, talking on a hand-held device while driving is banned in 14 states, and restrictions for talking on a hand-held device for novice drivers exist in 37 states. A total of while driving.
Arizona, one of two states without a ban on texting while driving (the other being Montana), came up with a creative method of dealing with those distracted by their phones. They cracked down on distracted drivers by issuing speeding tickets, which state law claims warranted by surpassing a speed 鈥済reater than is reasonable and prudent.鈥� A Department of Public Safety spokesperson told the Arizona Daily Star, 鈥淎ny speed is not reasonable when you鈥檙e texting, because you鈥檙e not fully in .鈥�
Phone usage can typically be easy to spot, but the question then is how to include some of these other distracted behaviors in legislation. Not every distracted behavior is possible for officers to notice, which leaves the responsibility of not being distracted to the driver, or someday聽to the car. DMV.org suggests that if you start to lose focus, get out and stretch your legs, breathe deeply, or talk to yourself to stay focused.
鈥淲hether the distraction is inside your vehicle or outside, your willingness to be distracted will influence how successful you are in .鈥�
