Woman Gets Ticket For Putting On Makeup While Driving

Did you know that putting on makeup while driving is more likely to cause a car accident than talking on the phone? And, it's illegal.

One Nevada driver learned this the hard way. On April 1st, Nevada Highway Patrol pulled a woman over because she was putting on makeup while stopped at a red light. She thought it was an April Fool's Day prank. Alas, the law against distracted driving is real and so was her $200 ticket.

In honor of April being distracted driver awareness month, here are some things you should know:

Cell Phones

According to a report by AAA, cell phone use caused 12 percent of distracted teen drivers to crash their car. A report from the National Safety Council found that one in four car crashes involved some kind of cell phone use. Many states, like Arkansas, ban all cell phone use while driving for novice drivers, 18-years-old and under. Some states, like Colorado, ban all drivers from texting while driving. Other states, like California and Connecticut, ban all use of hand-held devices while driving

Hands Free Devices

To get around hand-held device bans, many people have moved to using hands-free devices to make their phone calls and send their text messages. However, a AAA study shows that hands-free devices can be just as distracting to drivers. Despite cars boasting new speech-to-text technology, AAA claims that speech-to-text devices can be three times more distracting than listening to the radio

Eating and Other Activities

While distracted driving is most often associated with cell phone use, eating a pizza, petting a puppy, shaving, or putting on makeup can be just as dangerous. There are no laws that explicitly ban eating or putting on makeup while driving. But under most distracted driving laws, police can pull you over for any activity that could distracts you from driving.

Avoid distracted driving. Put on your makeup, and eat your breakfast at home to protect yourself and other drivers.

Related Resources:

• Woman gets $200 ticket for driving and using lip balm (KCPQ)
• Man Cited for Eating While Driving: Is That Really Illegal? (FindLaw's Legally Weird)
• Distracted Driver Who Killed 2 Gets 1 Year in Jail (FindLaw's Blotter)