Jul 20 2009
Coffee on the Go
Is your coffee drive-thru habit becoming an endangered species? The National Highway Safety and Trade Administration has released their list of the top ten foods to avoid while driving - and coffee tops the list of dangerous driving food habits. The list was reported in Motor Trends last week, and the motoring mag made special note of coffee’s place at the top of the driving food no-nos list.
In fact, the article made it sound like it was a no-brainer that you should avoid drinking coffee while driving - which could be a surprise to places like Dunkin Donuts which sells millions of cups of coffee at drive-thru windows every morning.
The issue, of course, is that coffee is HOT, and coffee cups are not infallible. A splash of hot coffee on the back of your hand, or a lapful of scaling coffee is certainly enough to distract you from the road. All it takes is hitting a bump at the wrong time, and you could end up swerving unexpectedly. So what’s the solution? Here’s a few random thoughts to make your coffee on the go habit safer.
- Black coffee is obviously hotter than coffee with milk or cream. Drink your coffee with cream!
- Make sure that the cover of your coffee cup fits right and is securely on the cup.
- Get your to-go coffee in your own travel mug instead of in a takeaway cup - it’s better for the environment, too. Just be sure that you wash it out before handing it over. Many drive-thrus have a policy of only refilling clean travel mugs.
- Only sip when you’re at a standstill - red lights, stop signs, etc. Much less chance of hitting a bump and spilling when you’re not moving.
Got other travel coffee tips? I’d love to hear them!
This list is really quite stupid, if you ask me. . . its implication is that we motorists are toddlers. We don’t know coffee is hot, can’t drink it carefully; we still giggle and lose control when we drink a soda, as the bubbles get in our nose; we smeer chocolate on our steering wheel . . .
I couldn’t help but feel it was not so much a safety list as a car-care list. Either way, it’s all obvious anyway. I don’t believe there is a single American who will *learn* something new from that. Their next article will urge auto-makers to remove cup holders from cars, they encourage drivers making poor choices–like bring consumable fluids into the vehicle. The NHTSA seriously needs a funding cutback or some new objectives. The only sensible thing in the article is this: “You don’t need a PhD to figure out…”
I have some advice for drivers, no limited to coffee and probably no necessary: When you drive, don’t be a dumbass.