DWP: Driving while primping. Do you shave your legs on the 405?

Britney Spears was reportedly putting on makeup when she crashed her white Mercedes last week. Was anyone else utterly unflummoxed?  But she's not the only woman driving while applying. The Rage has seen ladies fumbling with mascara on the 10 East and even once spotted a woman plucking her chin hair while she made a left on Fountain. (This blogger is certainly guilty of painting her lips while driving, but reserves plucking all errant hairs for parking lots.) In 2006, a woman in England was fined $100 for putting on blush while she drove 40 miles per hour. A recent study at Hunter College revealed that one in ten drivers distract themselves while driving by putting on makeup, eating something unwieldy like a burrito or drinking a beverage, or smoking. Even more telling: Farmers Insurance conducted a survey that found that 18% of women use cosmetics while behind the wheel, while 1.3% of men apply makeup too. Say what? Apparently, 8% of men and women style their hair as they tootle along. But the Rage's favorite stat? The study revealed that 5.5% of men shave while commuting and 2.1% of women admitted to shaving too. (Check out this Giclee print by Dynamic Graphics of a woman who can do it all. $49.99 at art.com.)

Should primping while driving be illegal?

Photo: art.com

Comments

[Figgins]

If using your cellphone while driving is against the law, then primping should also be against the law.

[DCam]

I'm one of the 5.5% who shaves (electric, not blade&cream) while driving. But my strategy is to just shave while sitting at lights, and by the time i'm get to work, i'm done. I don't really have to look at myself in the mirror at all. If people are primping in the car, that should be fine; but before they start moving, they need to just put down the eyeliner pen!

[Lauren Spraggins]

haha. well i apply make-up in the car on occasions. i try not to do it very often, though. yes, i know its dangerous, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do. plus i have really good hand-eye coordination.

[Lauren Spraggins]

haha. well i apply make-up in the car on occasions. i try not to do it very often, though. yes, i know its dangerous, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do. plus i have really good hand-eye coordination.

[M DANTLEY]

Gee Folks, it just never stops. No one wants to be accountable. Okay, fine. So, here's the deal. From this point forward , all 300 million vehicle drivers in the U.S. have unlimited authorization to engage in any distracting act they so choose while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. Yes maam/sir, ANY act. You can shave, text, apply your make up, smoke, drink, make love, sight see, or any other of the 47 activities one can engage in while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle.

There's just one catch:

When your sorry, demented, damaged, bruised and/or mangled body is lying on an operating table being mended by a Surgeon, said Surgeon may engage in the very same moronic activity you do while operating on your ass. Seems fair to me. Sista' Doc will want to look her best as she's interviewed after your ass dies (still can't find her eyeliner - must have dropped it somewhere). Bro. Doc has to take a quick shave to face your family to say you're dead. Why not while he's trying to save your life?

Driving a vehicle is like surgery when done right. No fatalities, no casualties, no victims, and the patient lives to see another day, unscathed by the asinine ignorance of a few who elect to tempt death: yours and mine.

The first one of you willing to 'go under the knife' with these caveats, speak up. Ummm.... I can't hear you.
Drivers have one role: to drive, not a damn thing else.