Eating While Driving Can Lead To a Ticket in New York State

When it comes to laws in New York State, there's a lot to sift through. Some of the laws are common knowledge and come in a black and white way, meaning they're definitive "yes, you can do these things" or "no, you cannot do these things."

Distracted driving is something that is a point of emphasis with law enforcement. It's not safe to drive while being distracted and the most obvious example of this is driving while having your smartphone in your hand or, even worse, texting while driving.

Get our free mobile app

Here in New York State, driving while behind distracted is taken seriously and that goes past talking on a cell phone or texting while behind the wheel.

What about eating while driving?

Technically, there is no law on the books that says you cannot eat while behind the wheel, however, eating while driving can still lead to getting pulled over and even ticketed.

That's because eating while driving can be deemed "dangerous" or "reckless" driving, which is a regulation used for any kind of distracted driving, which can happen if you're eating while behind the wheel.

It should go without saying, you should not eat a full meal behind the wheel. Eating a Clif bar or driving a bottle of Pepsi is probably fine, but eating a huge sandwich and fries while driving down the road could be deemed as "dangerous driving."

So, keep that in mind the next time you're driving and think about eating that full fast food meal while driving down the highway to save some time.