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.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."
Advertisement
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.