I think that this was really careless of him to do this and he could of possibly killed someone. Remember the accident on the Oklahoma Turnpike last July that killed nine people? This was also caused by driver carelessness. These guys are driving around an 80,000 pound vehicle at upwards of seventy miles an hour and our personal vehicles weigh 1/20th of that. There is great responsibility in driving a vehicle of this magnitude and you need to more conscience of your surroundings and be on high alert at all times. According to the information on smartmotorist.com, 20-50 percent of accidents are caused by driver inattention.
What is astounding is on froedtert.com, they had an online survey to which teens and parents responded to. A staggering 45 percent said that were distracted while eating in their vehicle. More amazing is that 80 percent of car crashes and 65 percent of near misses are caused by eating while driving as this article indicates. I know that most of us are really busy and rely on multitasking and going through a drive thru is ever so easy nowadays since almost every fast food chain has one. I am guilty of this and a few years back I was stopped by the highway patrol for eating breakfast on the way to work. He told me that is why he stopped me and I explained to him that I was trying to eat before work and he waited for me to finish before I could leave. I was really lucky that I didn't get a ticket, but it made me more be aware as he told me that the ticket for careless and imprudent driving can cost you your license in Missouri. So I did the next best thing, I tagged my car in Oklahoma and got really dark tint so it would be harder to see. It is no excuse as to my carelessness, but it is something now with age that you consciously don't do. I will usually wait to eat until I get to work now.
I will admit that eating while driving to work accomplishes two things. You get to work on time and you have energy to start working. You just have to be smart about it. If you are merely eating a bagel versus a hamburger or chili in this case, be smart and pull over. It only takes a few minutes and you could avoid a serious accident.