What would your morning drive be like without coffee? One study says it doesn’t mix with driving. Plus, some Missouri café patrons are lining up to pay it forward.

Over the weekend, Motor Trend published a new list of foods that should be avoiding while driving. Surprisingly, hot coffee topped the list.

According to a study published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, coffee is one of the worst foods drivers can consume while operating a motor vehicle because “even with a travel lid, hot coffee can find its way out of the opening when you hit a bump.”

The joint study also suggested that drivers avoid soda and hamburgers while driving. More absurd suggestions like fried chicken, chili dogs, hot soup, ribs, and tacos also made the list. Now I ask you, when is the last time you’ve thought, ‘this drive would be made so much better if I were eating spare ribs’?

I guess I have to laugh at the absurdity of this list not because it’s not worth pointing out these things to drivers in our overly distracted, multi-task obsessed culture, but because it took a team of government professionals and academics to come up with it. Also, who’s more at risk here – the distraction these things cause the driver or the vehicle’s upholstery once the inevitable spills actually happen?

In all seriousness, the NHTSA says distraction is the cause of 80 percent of American highway crashes. But it’s not just eating in the car that’s the cause, the study’s results say, other culprits like using a cell phone, reaching for an object within the vehicle, looking at an object or event outside of the vehicle, reading, and applying makeup are also to blame.

1,500 cups and counting

We’ve talked about coffee shop customers doing their best to pay it forward on this blog before, but a Kansas City café is taking it to the next level.

The Steamin’ Bean in Blue Springs, Missouri, has seen nearly 1,500 customers take the time to pay for the order of next person in line over the last two weeks.

It all started when a local mom pulled into the drive-thru one morning and paid for the latte of the guy in line behind her. Instead of simply accepting the free cup, that gentleman did the same for the person in line behind him and it hasn’t stopped since.

“It’s taken on a life of its own,” said café owner Garin Bledsoe. “That first day, well, we got to 12, and then it got to 20, and by the time I left we were at 20 to 30 deep. It took off quick.”

Bledsoe said customers have also donated about $600 just to keep the trend going. He’s since given $200 to nearby restaurants and stores in hopes of sparking a similar chain reaction there.

As for the kind lady who started it all, she asked not to be identified by KansasCity.com, where I found this story, but said that people’s continued generosity has made her cry.

“I did it because I knew I was going to have a busy week at work and I thought ‘Well, you never know what their day will be like.’ She said, quick to deflect recognition. “I just paid for a $3 cup of coffee. It has been everyone else.”

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