Do you eat while you drive? Had a sneaky rummage through the paper bag as you leave the drive-through? Obvious distraction aside, there’s also hygiene to contend with as the steering wheel is a hive of germs; one which harbours more of them than even public toilet seats, according to Carrentals.com .
Measured in colony forming units (CFU), the average steering wheel has 629 CFU, roughly four times that of a typical toilet seat which comes in at 172 CFU. The report found that out of the 1,000 drivers surveyed, one-third responded as having only cleaned the interior of their vehicle once a year, with another 12% saying they have never cleaned the inside of their cars.
On mobile munching, 20% of the surveyed said they do so in their vehicles at least once a week, and the steering wheel is joined by the cupholder (506 CFU) and seat belt (403 CFU) in being among the most infected spots in a car’s cabin. Cars are at their most germ-laden after a long road trip, the report said.
These drivers “likely never considered just how many germs are crawling over the surfaces of their cars, or where they are coming from,” the Carrentals.com report said. When, then, do all these germs come from? The biggest source of germs for drivers’ hands is likely to the the fuel station, when contact is made with the pump nozzles.
“Compared to other public locations where the CFU count was in the hundreds, the average gas pumps measure in the millions,” it said. “While these numbers are extremely high, not all bacteria found at gas pumps are dangerous. However, some bacteria, like Staphylococcus (sometimes referred to as “staph”), are responsible for a multitude of complications like skin infections, food poisoning and toxic shock syndrome,” it added.
The takeaway here? Try to keep food consumption in your car to a minimum, though if you must, remember to give the interior a thorough clean afterwards.
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Pretty sure these researchers havent been to Malaysian public toilets…
Steering wheels and smartphones, which dirtier?
I dunno about u guys but I will sanitize the steering wheel and other parts of the car interior once in a while. Don’t be shocked if the cloth turns black after a month. It is that dirty inside your cabin.
Another thing to note, eating in car distracts the driver. If that piece of ham or sauce drops and the driver tries to catch it with the steering hand, it increase the risk of accidents. Drivers must do only one thing: DRIVE! Remember safety first.
So good luck for SOCAR customer..
With more drive thru fast food,a hectic lifestyle, long jams on the roads, it is only inevitable that more Malaysians are eating on the run.
There is no data available to show that eating and driving is causing as many accidents as compared to say, mobile phone users or Driving Under the Influence (DUI) cases.
However I have to agree that keeping the interior clean is a must, to be free from odour, ants or cockroaches.
And perhaps the most annoying and irresponsible bad habits of some Malaysian motorists is to throw rubbish from their vehicles while moving on public roads.
Of cos lar..While traffic jam also people pick up their noses like there is no tomorrow. Then put the treasures all over the interior part..
I used to have a strict rule of no eating in the car (during bachelorhood) but it all changed after marriage… LOL.
still do… and wife complains… LOL