It’s not just booze and cell phones that cause car accidents; eating food while behind the wheel can be just as dangerous. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has repeatedly cited eating while driving as a major cause of distraction and car accidents, on par with applying makeup and having an insect buzzing around causing panic in the car.
Exhibit A, your honor: the massive semi carrying a haul of bark through Washington State that wiped out because of a taco this week. Actually, to be fair, it wiped out because of human error and the powerful allure that tacos can have for hungry, distracted drivers.
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Washington State Patrol Public Information Officer Trooper Brian Moore posted the following photos of a mangled truck atop a huge pile of wood chips on Twitter last week, with the caption “Blewett Pass OPEN. Driver was eating a taco when he lost control & rolled. #ItCanWait Minimize distractions while driving! #BeSmart #BeSafe.”
Trooper Moore told the Yakima Herald that taco-eating was the reason why the truck driver “drifted onto the shoulder and soft gravel, over-corrected and then rolled,” making this case a great example of how something as benign as a taco can cause a huge and potentially life-threatening mess for our fragile existences.
Whether Washington State troopers have a forensic team to determine what food causes road accidents based on tortilla and lettuce fragments, or if this truck driver just confessed the hard-shelled truth instead, remains unclear, but there was enough evidence to ticket him for distracted driving, according to the Yakima Herald.
Next time you’re thinking of taking down a crunchy taco behind the wheel, remember the wise words of Trooper Moore—”#ItCanWait”—and give that taco the full attention it deserves.
