Petition Against New Washington E-DUI Law Spreads Faulty Information

ENUMCLAW, WA - Over 25,000 people have signed a symbolic petition against the state's new distracted driving law, which only went into effect on Sunday. The biggest piece of the new law bans fiddling with or holding your cell phone while driving. But the law also gives police the power to cite you if you're dangerously distracted by other activities, like eating, drinking, or grooming.

And it appears the eating-and-drinking part is motivating many people to sign the petition.

The law does not outlaw eating or drinking (non-alcoholic beverages) while driving unless those actions are leading you to drive recklessly - so, putting cream cheese on a bagel while changing lanes at 75 MPH is illegal, but taking a sip of coffee is perfectly fine.

Read about Washington's new distracted driving law here

Many people appear to believe that the law has outlawed drinking coffee or water while driving. The founder of the petition, Angela Cruze, gets the law wrong in her description of the petition's purpose:

"Washington state has recently passed a new Distracted Drivers Law. The law can provide opportunity for police officers to pull a driver over when not just holding a cellphone but now you cannot eat or drink in your car while driving," she wrote. "The law shows a great stride for protecting citizens from distracted drivers but I feel this policy needs to be changed."

Plenty of people signed on with the same complaint: don't take away my morning coffee!

"Having a coffee on the way to work shouldn't be be an issue. You cannot control everything and justify it in fear. That's no way to live," wrote Stephanie George of Enumclaw.

"This is communist," wrote Casey McElroy of Seabeck.

"So I can't take a drink of water in the car? Ridiculous!" wrote Pamela Shaw of Renton.

The - again, non-legally binding - petition even attracted outraged signers from outside Washington state.

"This state is becoming a fascist state," wrote Brian Lasota of Metarie, Louisiana.

The petition is directed at a number of elected officials, including Gov. Jay Inslee and President Donald Trump.

Image via Creative Commons