Insurers: eating and driving don't mix. (Briefing).

Following a wave of state legislation, both failed and successful, aimed at discouraging the misuse of cell phones by distracted motorists, New Jersey s state Assembly now is weighing a bill that would bar motorists from engaging in other distracting activities, including eating.

Insurers are largely neutral regarding the legislation and other bills like it, but concern about the issue of distracted driving has drawn several carriers' attention.

In California, auto insurer 21st Century Insurance Co. has cosponsored a billboard program with the California Highway Patrol warning drivers about the dangers of distracted driving.

In one, a graphic shows a motorist watching ketchup drip from his hamburger bun while a caption reads "World's Riskiest Restaurant." In another, a woman is shown applying mascara in her car, while the caption reads "World's Most Dangerous Make-Up Mirror." Other billboards warn about the use of cell phones and laptops while driving, as well as shaving and reading, according to 21st Century spokesman Larry Krutchik.

"As an auto insurer, 21st Century is of course concerned with safety," Krutchik said, noting that the cooperative effort with the CHP grew out of an earlier joint campaign encouraging the use of child car seats. "In both cases, they just felt that they could help contribute to awareness that would help avert accidents that are avoidable."

All told, the company cosponsored between 30 and 35 billboards on California highways under the program, which goes by the heading "Just Drive," Krutchik said.

In a 2001 study, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that more than a quarter of all traffic fatalities were caused by inattentive driving and determined that eating while driving was actually a bigger distraction than use of a handheld cell phone.

Michigan-based specialty auto insurer Hagerty Classic Insurance Co. went the NHTSA one better, compiling a list of the 10 most dangerous foods to eat while driving, based on claims experience and reviews of public accident reports.

"The whole thing initially came to our attention almost as a joke, because we found we had a policyholder with a restriction on his license that didn't allow him to drive if there was food in the car," said McKeel Hagerty, president of Hagerty Classic. "But with the NHTSA studies and the recently passed legislation, we started watching our claim information and interviewing law-enforcement officials about the sorts of things that they were seeing, and certain foods just kept popping up over and over again."

Apropos of Stella Liebeck's $2.9 million judgment against McDonald's in 1994, coffee topped the list of most dangerous foods, followed by hot soups and tacos. Chili and any foods containing chili also were dubbed no-nos.

"Steering chili-covered foods to your mouth while steering a car around a corner requires more dexterity than humans possess," Hagerty reported.

Also making the list were chocolate, soft drinks, jelly and cream-filled donuts, fried chicken, hamburgers, and any and all barbecued foods.

Although the company isn't yet at the point where it would consider different treatment for motorists found driving while eating, Hagerty said, it is something the insurer plans to continue tracking in setting up its claims system.

"What we advocate, and what I think certainly would be better for right now, is a common-sense approach, where we can give this information to our policyholders and hope that they understand it is a bigger problem than most people realize," Hagerty said. "Hopefully this doesn't have to lead to legislation, which might even carry a kind of 'Big Brother' stigma to it."

Under New Jersey's proposed bill, which passed the state Assembly Transportation Committee unanimously May 8, traffic officers could issue tickets for such varied activities as the use while driving of "wireless telephones, pagers, facsimile machines, locator devices, AM/FM radios, compact disc players, audio cassette players, video players, citizens band radios, and dispatch radios," as well as for "engaging in personal grooming, consuming food or beverages, reading, or tending to unsecured pets."

Although none of the above would be banned by the bill outright, it would be left to an officer's discretion to determine whether a motorist was distracted from driving safely by the activity in question. Fines would range from $200 to $500.

The bill still must be voted on by both the full Assembly and the state Senate before heading to Gov. Jim McGreevey for approval.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, New York is still the only state to prohibit completely the use of handheld cellular phones while driving. New Jersey prohibits their use by people with only a learner's permit, and several New Jersey municipalities have also passed regulations banning their use locally while driving.

RELATED ARTICLE: Driven to Distraction

The following foods have been named the most dangerous to eat while driving:

1. Coffee

2. Hot Soup

3. Tacos

4. Chili

5. Juicy Hamburger

6. Any Barbecued Food

7. Fried Chicken

8. Jelly and Cream Donuts

9. Soft Drinks

10. Chocolate

Source: Hagerty Classic Insurance Co.