Can you eat a cheeseburger while driving in Washington state? You Could Get a Ticket!

We're talking about distracted driving now and there are very specific distracted driving laws in Washington state. But on at least one level, there's some confusion about Washington state's definition of distracted driving, at least for me. 

"So many people — including reporters, apparently — have misunderstood the law, that the Washington State Patrol and Washington Traffic Safety Commission held a conference call Friday morning to answer questions about how the law works, and how you could get cited under it." - NewsTribune.com

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Years ago on long trips, I have been known to eat while driving. Probably the most extreme experience was when I ate a pizza while driving over Snoqualmie Pass. I'm not proud of it. I was young and stupid. I'm just saying it happened.  

These days I limit my eating while driving to a burrito and that only seldom, or the occasional M&M. (OK, bag of M&M's.) 

The idea of trying to eat a cheeseburger while I'm driving is unimaginable to me now. Even with the cool new “lane assist” function in my car, I don't think I could do that, ever, because I like to put extra ketchup on my cheeseburger and that takes both hands! One for the burger, one for the ketchup.

Also, sometimes a cheeseburger can be really messy. Remember those “Dusty” cheeseburgers? (You remember Dusty's Burger drive-thru, right?) Trying to eat one of those while driving would be a disaster. 

The current distracted driving laws in Washington state:

 

“Eating, drinking, applying makeup, shaving or having a dog on your lap while you drive remain legal, as long as those things don’t cause you to drive poorly. If they do, you could be cited for a secondary offense as well as the underlying primary offense.”  - KING5 News

 

My layman's interpretation of that would read: If you're weaving all over the road and you've got a burger in your mouth, you're going to get a ticket.  

Whenever you drive, please use some common sense, and remember, don't eat the pizza until you get it home.