Omg one time I was in line at a Subway (food) this dude started small talking about how it sucks because he's so hungry and he has to wait until he gets home to eat. I say, "why not just eat half while you drive?" he says, "what are you crazy?! You can't eat while you drive! You will crash!" and went on this tangent about not being able to eat or drink anything because you're driving.
It took me way too long to realize you were talking about a restaurant and I was trying to figure out why he couldn't just eat while he was on the train rather than wait until he got to his commuter station and drove home.
Their veggie patty is actually pretty good (or was last time I had it 4 or 5 years ago), mostly because they don't even try to make it taste like meat.
You could also like...sit down at the subway and eat your sandwich.
A sub is a pretty difficult driving meal though, if you have any care for the cleanliness of your car. Lots of ingredients threatening to spill out of the bread at any moment.
That's why you get a nice clean sub like the meatball sub, with sirracha and chipotle sauce added to it. That way everything is just a red and orange mess.
See, I disagree. I feel like a sandwich (and particularly, a long roll) makes it easier to eat without having to look at the thing you're eating. It's a great driving food.
Unless we're talking meatball subs or something. Just keep the paper on your lap (maybe put a napkin or two under that if you want to be sure nothing gets on your pants), and go to town without having to look down.
Better than anything requiring utensils, that's for sure.
In my state they ended up passing a distracted driving law that includes eating while driving. It's a secondary enforcement law (they can't pull you over for it).
If you run a red light while eating a hamburger, you'll get the primary fine (running the red light) plus another $100 fine for distracted driving.
Why? because for some people taking a drink or a bite of a burger will make them crash. This is especially true in urban areas with a ton of things a driver needs to be aware of and react to.
I was almost run over by a driver at a crossing who was busy eating fries or something. She clearly didn't know or care to pay attention and drive accordingly. Given her speed i most likely would be dead or in a wheelchair if i hadn't stopped in the middle of the road. I will never forget the stupid expression on her face as she looked back up and didn't bother to slow down.
It doesn't matter the kind of distraction. If you dont have both hands free to operate your car and you have to look at anything except the road and mirrors, you are distracted and have no business of driving. This kind of behaviour should always lead to people getting stopped and at least made to walk the rest of the day, getting longer bans with repeated offenses.
I'm actually all for this. If you're driving your #1 priority should be paying attention to the road, and any distraction should be avoided if possible.
The Germans had it right not having cup holders in their cars.
I'm also in favor of generally minimizing distractions while driving as well but taking a sip from a cup with a straw should be effortless without having to look away.
Germany also has much more strict requirements to get a license in the first place that I wish would get adopted where I live.
Taking a sip generally isn't that distracting. But when the cup doesn't want to go into the cup holder no matter what you do, and you have to look down to figure it out is.
French cars have tiny cupholders that don't fit any takeaway cups. My Renault is infuriating if I have either a takeaway or a mug. I've had to buy a particularly narrow thermos cup to fit it.
Eating a sandwich and drinking a coffee while driving are dramatically different. A coffee sip takes a second, you can almost certainly keep your eyes on the road the whole time, and you can easily put it down in a cupholder, freeing your second hand. A sandwich involves 4 layers of wrapping, possible sauce drippings, and a different surface to each bite that requires you to look. I've read studies that found that actively eating is as risky as being drunk behind the wheel.
Well I imagine you would unwrap the sandwich and have it prepped for eating before pulling away from the place where the sandwich was purchased... And you don't need a different surface, you just keep the paper it was wrapped in on your lap, and put it on that.
Do all of y'all really need to look down at your sandwich while eating it?
Obviously, it's more distracting than sipping coffee, but I would argue that sandwiches are one of the better driving foods. Far better than anything involving a utensil.
And then you miscalculate your sip, or you have to break suddenly, so you spill hot coffee all over yourself. Now you are in pain and take both hands off the wheel and your eyes off the road, because you want to take your hot clothes away from you.
Voilá you are driving uncontrolledly and are a mortal danger to anyone within the possible paths your car could take for the next ten or so seconds.
Saw someone making a sandwich once in stop-start traffic, cutting board resting against the (airbag) steering wheel and using a knife. Didn't hear about them on the news that evening so can only assume Darwin missed it.
Saw a guy eating Chinese from a takeaway carton with chopsticks while driving over a bridge once. It was mildly terrifying. Carton in one hand, chopsticks in the other.