It’s National Donut Day! What better way to celebrate a Friday holiday than with circular baked goodness, right? Well, before you head off to Krispy Kreme
–
and trust us, we hate to be the bearer of bad news
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know that donuts are one of the
worst
things you can eat behind the wheel. No, not because of their calorie counts
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but because of the distraction they can cause.
It’s not just sugary donuts that can steal your attention from the road; experts have also warned against ingesting any of these food and beverage items while behind the wheel, though no distraction is a safe distraction. According to a Lytx study in 2014, a driver who is drinking or eating is 3.6 times more likely to be in an automobile crash than attentive drivers who are not eating or drinking while driving.
So today, in honor of National Donut Day, avoid eating or drinking these items while driving to give the road and surrounding drivers 100% of your attention:
- 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.
- Coffee. One spill of this can ruin your whole morning, especially if you’re in the middle of driving.
- Hot soup. Many people drink it like coffee and run the same risks.
- Tacos. It’s probably not a good idea to eat something that can easily disassemble itself in your hand while behind the wheel.
- Chili. See #3.
- Hamburgers. Again, if it can drip, it’ll find a way to do so in your car. Don’t let that $3 burger from McDonald’s turn into a $500 or $1,000 deductible from your insurance company.
- Barbecued food. The sauce may be great, but if you have to lick your fingers, the sauce will end up on whatever you touch.
- Fried chicken. A driver eating fried chicken will constantly be cleaning off his or her hands from all the grease.
- 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.