Staying focused while driving is essential to ensuring road safety. Although it may seem trivial, drinking water while driving often raises questions among drivers: is it allowed or could it be considered an offence? Although there is no explicit prohibition in the legislation of the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT) that prohibits the consumption of liquids inside a moving vehicle, the rules in Spain emphasise that attention must be constant and control of the vehicle absolute. It is therefore essential to understand how drinking water can affect concentration and what legal consequences it can have.
Every action at the wheel has a direct impact on your own safety and that of other road users. In fact, minimising distractions is one of the fundamental pillars of accident prevention, which is why the authorities continually stress the importance of respecting the rules and avoiding behaviours that take your eyes or hands off the wheel.
When talking about distractions while driving, the focus is often on mobile phone use. However, everyday actions such as eating, drinking or adjusting your seatbelt can pose a considerable risk. Specifically, drinking water can involve taking your eyes off the road, letting go of the steering wheel to hold the bottle and limiting the mobility of your hands, all of which reduce your ability to react to unexpected events.
In Spain, statistics compiled by organisations specialising in road safety show that even a second of distraction can mean that the vehicle travels between 20 and 30 metres without proper attention. This can lead to serious accidents, with distractions being responsible for a significant proportion of accidents on Spanish roads. Therefore, although drinking water may seem like a harmless activity, doing so while driving can compromise control over the car and lead to potentially dangerous situations, especially on fast roads or in adverse weather conditions.
Article 18 of the current General Traffic Regulations clearly states that drivers must maintain continuous attention and total control of the car at all times. Although the law does not specifically state that drinking water while driving is prohibited, it does state that any action that may affect that control may be grounds for punishment.
This means that if drinking water causes a significant distraction — such as taking your eyes off the road, using both hands to do so, or having limited movement — traffic officers may consider that road safety is being jeopardised. In such a case, the driver could be penalised with a fine of up to 200 euros and the loss of two points on their licence.
The legislation applies indirectly to distracting activities, classifying them as minor offences. However, the actual severity depends on the context: for example, drinking water in slow-moving traffic may not be penalised, whereas doing so on a motorway or in heavy traffic could be grounds for a fine.