Eating While Driving Ups Accidents

CLEVELAND—Eating while driving is one of the most distracting things you can do, according to a study released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. Eighty percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involve driver distraction.

According to NHTSA, "Distraction was most likely to be involved in rear-end collisions in which the lead vehicle was stopped, as well as in single-vehicle crashes." Distractions like eating can become a problem for drivers who can't react quickly to a sharp curve or another driver's sudden stop. Unfortunately, just one accident may increase your car insurance rates as much as 25 percent,

According to the study, the Top 10 foods to avoid while driving are coffee, hot soup, tacos, chili dogs, hamburgers, ribs and wings, fried chicken, jelly donuts, soda and chocolate.