I was pulling out of a motorway service station the other day and was surprised to see an outlet serving drive through coffee, positioned just before you head onto the slip road.
It means you grab a coffee and then hit the motorway – or another vehicle if you’re busy stirring your sugar, I presume.
I’m not going to get drawn into the law on this one, because if a driver is caught eating or drinking at the wheel it’s really a case of whether they were in proper control of the vehicle. Some people are penalised for eating and drinking, and many aren’t.
But is having a drive-through as the last building before you exit back onto three lanes of fast, busy traffic a good idea?
Surely the entire ethos of motorway services is to take a break. Stop. Have a rest. Have a drink, some food, a walk round and refresh yourself for the next stage of your journey.
It’s not a pit stop, where someone throws a coffee at you and you’re away faster than Lewis Hamilton after a tyre change.
Tiredness is a real problem behind the wheel, and its heightened with the monotony of motorway driving.
Coffee is not the solution, although it can help. Taking a break and having a power nap is much more important.
We’re also inundated with in-vehicle distractions nowadays, with mobile phones, sat navs and on-board computers.
I, for one, would like to see the emergence of drive throughs at motorway services discouraged as I can’t see it having a positive effect on safe driving.
I would also expect any company driving policy to state very clearly that eating and drinking at the wheel is not allowed.
The only thing you should be doing whilst driving is concentrating.
