Cobb police ticket Alabama man for ‘eating while driving’
Maybe he can get Mayor McCheese to put in a good word with the judge.
Madison Turner told Channel 2 Action News he had no idea he could be ticketed after Cobb police pulled him over last week for eating while driving.
But that’s just what happened to the Alabama man, due in court Feb. 3.
“The officer explained to me that he observed me eating a burger for two miles,” Turner said. “He said specifically three times, ‘You can’t just go down the road eating a hamburger.’”
The law cited by the ticketing officer requires drivers to “exercise due care in operating a motor vehicle on the highways of this state and shall not engage in any actions which shall distract such driver from the safe operation of such vehicle.”
“Maybe I was enjoying the burger too much,” Turner told Channel 2. “I needed to tone it down. I was certainly willing to do so, but I didn’t expect to be fined or punished.”
Atlanta DUI attorney William “Bubba” Head, who is not representing Turner, told the station he’s never seen the law cited unless it contributed to an accident.
“If this was the law, I’d have to hire more attorneys because everybody does it including me,” he said. “Maybe if you had a giant pizza in both hands and you weren’t holding the wheel, or maybe if you had a watermelon – half watermelon – and you were just diving into it holding it with both hands, maybe that would be something.”
Cobb police declined comment.
About the Author
A native Atlantan, Boone joined the AJC staff in 2007. He quickly carved out a niche covering crime stories, assuming the public safety beat in 2014. He's covered some of the biggest trials this decade, from Hemy Neuman to Ross Harris to Chip Olsen, the latter of which was featured on Season 7 of the AJC's award-winning "Breakdown" podcast.
