Dangerous Driving: The Mobile Phone vs. Coffee May 15, 2010

The saying “Put down your phone and drive” just isn’t good enough. There are dangerous distractions ready to impair the modern driver that extend beyond the mobile phone and these get little to no notice while the dangers of texting and cell phone usage in vehicles have been getting a LOT of press in the past year. For example: on May 10th NPR aired an episode on Morning Edition about teens driving and texting (listen to it at NPR) and on January 1st 2010 Colorado passed a ban on teens under 18 from using mobile phones (which originally had been directed at all drivers)  and across the US there are states pushing some sort of legislation to minimize cell phone usage in vehicles.

Some of those proposed laws go even further in an attempt to minimize distractions. Oklahoma’s Senate bill also address and seeks to penalize other distractions like eating, reading, writing and grooming. Of course making these actions illegal certainly seems unlikely at best (people would riot first), but this more encompassing approach address the key issue: as more people spend greater amounts of time in their vehicles, risky practices quickly become the norm. (See Walletpop for a list of truly sketchy things people have seen other drivers do on the road. For example… would you paint your toe nails while driving?). Currently, 35 percent of drivers feel less safe than they did 5 years ago because of the rise of distracted driving around them.

You sure you want that coffee in the car with you?

If people are tossing stones at a practice, they better be willing to look at the whole problem. Simply put, the phones are just a very obvious lightning rod; the problem is how poorly drivers understand their limitations and the risks they put themselves and others into on a daily basis. The average driver has become complacent and that is the real danger. For example, how many people know that eating or drinking while driving are actually more risky than your cell phone (when dialing or talking with a hand held device)?

Yes, technology has a lot to do with the rising tide of concern, but The AAA Foundation released a report in 2001 estimated that 25% of all accidents involve some kind of inattention. That number wasn’t surprising, what caused a stir was the fact that eating and drinking were more often to blame than hand held mobile phones (this is before texting became a norm) and both of these factors were significantly dwarfed by several other distractions. (For drivers under 20 years old –the most susceptible age group- adjusting the music/radio accounted for 28.9% of accidents, talking or dialing on cell phones was 0.1%, eating or drinking was 1.1 %.).  A British study for Privilege Insurance in 2006 found that eating and drinking doubled the likelihood of an accident and equated it with the illegal practice of using hand held phones in England.

Unfortunately, the worst of the edible distractions is an all time favorite for most Americans: coffee.
Understandably many will find this news hard to… swallow. Of the top ten most dangerous driving “foods”, coffee is the most likely to lead to an accident or a close call for several reasons. Simply combine extremely hot with very easy to spill (remember how McDonalds lost about $3 million in a lawsuit) and it’s already seriously questionable as a driving companion, but then stir in a helping of traveling at high speeds and throw in rush hour traffic with a dash of sleep deprivation and what may have seemed like a nice companion has become a hitchhiker with questionable motives.

Please keep in mind that eating or drinking while driving are not as dangerous as texting but they are an issue. Texting is the equivalent of putting a mafia boss of inattentiveness in the car with you. (An extensive study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute shows commercial driver distraction and cell phone use under real world driving conditions across over 6 million miles of road and the results are staggering: dialing equals 5.9 times more risk of crash or near crash event, while talking and listening are only 1 time more risky and texting is a whopping 23.2 times more risky.)  Again, texting while driving is the lightning rod to draw attention to the underlying problem: driver complacency.

So here is the sound bite to take home: It isn’t just a car; it’s a 4,000 lb hunk of metal traveling at high speed and only you can act as the safety control that keeps it from becoming a killing machine. So please, use this common sense guideline: if it limits your eyes and hands, save it till you are at a full and complete stop. Find that difficult? Then take the bus, taxi or walk and then feel free to text, talk and drink hot coffee to your heart’s content. Remember, you’re not the only one on the road.

For the curious, here is the list of dangerous driving foods from worst to less terrible -courtesy of insure.com:
1. Coffee
2. Hot soup
3. Tacos
4. Chili
5. Hamburgers
6. Barbecued food
7. Fried chicken
8. Jelly or cream-filled donuts
9. Soft drinks
10. Chocolate

Yes, I Understand That You Are Really Into Your Coffee, But Could You Please Drop the Attitude? May 2, 2010

As I am sure most of you (if not all of you reading my blog) have noticed, I really like coffee shops and the coffee industry, but what I really can not stand is the condescending, elitist, snide connoisseurs who seem driven to alienate through ridicule the other 90 percent of the coffee drinking world.

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Case in point:

A friend of mine spent some time with a couple of individuals who are REALLY into coffee. (He assured me that they discussed the topic of coffee, from its roasting to qualities and cupping for several hours.) These two unnamed souls were particularly impressed with one roaster, 49^th Parallel. My friend took them at their word and managed to visit one of 49^th Paralell’s “showcase” coffee shops in Portland only to feel like he was in hostile territory.

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When he ordered a latte there (his normal drink) he was told, “Why not buy a milk shake while you’re at it. Cause you’re just getting milk with a little espresso flavor.” (Insert barista’s snide smile and eye-rolling here).

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Granted, my buddy is a dabbler in coffee so being in a “coffee shop” that only sold straight-up espresso or coffee was a complete shift from his usual experience. In the end he left with a bitter taste in his mouth (pun intended) and felt like he’d asked for the unspeakable and been scolded for it, as if he had said “can I get my espresso with a spoonful of baby seal on top?”
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So, maybe the barista was having a bad day or maybe it’s the everyday vibe of this particular company; I don’t know since I’ve never been to any of their stores (I have heard good things about their coffee) but what I do know is that when connoisseurs use this approach, they crush what could have been a great opportunity to turn the coffee curious into life-long coffee enthusiasts.

My advice is twofold:

1. Yes, you love your coffee and no doubt your espresso is stunning all on its own, but the vast majority of American espresso drinkers take theirs with some milk, so offer a Cappucino (or something) and give them a marker they can understand. Heck, offer a taster cup of straight up, unadulterated coffee for them to try while you are at it and feel free to offer friendly advice on the merits of coffee so good, they (probably) won’t want to add cream and sugar.
2. Drop the freaking attitude. Though ridicule can be an effective way to bully with words the less informed, it is a disservice to everyone… you included. If you love coffee, provide an environment where others can share in the love; don’t send them running in the other direction.

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Thanks,

~one caffeine queen