According to a recent study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 80 percent of all car accidents and 65 percent of near misses are caused by eating while driving. But while it has long been known that eating while driving distracts drivers, federal and state legislators have never banned the behavior. Indeed, drive-through eating is so ingrained in American culture that at this point it would be difficult, if not impossible, to do so. Some fear that if action is not taken quickly to ban cell phone use while driving, the outcome could be the same: people will become so used to driving while talking that banning the practice will be increasingly difficult. - Introduction.