Ladies, let's admit that we've all done it. The alarm goes off and you wake up in a panic. You are late for work. You rush around the house pulling on your work clothes and starting the coffee pot, then search frantically for your car keys. Once you have your purse and a commuter mug brimming with caffeine, you grab your make-up bag and head for the car. As you speed on the freeway, you fold down the sun visor and flip open the mirror cover, and then juggle the steering wheel in one hand while you apply lipstick, mascara, eyeliner and eye shadow. Though the job may not be a make-up artists' masterpiece, you are satisfied to get to work with your face freshly powdered and slide through the back door so people don't notice your tardiness.

While make-up motorists may think that they have invented a creative way to multi-task, this isn't a safe way to drive. The Telegraph, a British newspaper, found that around one-fifth of all female motorists confess that they complete cosmetic touch ups on the move. In a survey performed by the paper, The Telegraph found that in the United Kingdom alone, nearly half a million crashes a year are the result of a women driver who was distracted while applying make-up. Young women between 17 and 21 were the most likely to put beauty before safety while out on the road.

A motor insurance company known as Diamond recently conducted a survey on 4,000 women drivers, and discussed this common distracted driving offense. In the survey, 27 percent of the women confessed to putting make-up on in the car and nine percent of those 18 or younger who put on makeup in the car crashed while doing so. In the United Kingdom, people who cause a fatal crash because of distracted driving habits are sentenced to prison for up to two years. This is a drastic change from the precious charge for distracted driving, which was only a fine.

Applying make-up while driving can raise even your insurance. According to a notable insurance company, women who drive distracted are crash risks, and applying make-up while driving is definitely a distracting procedure. The National Highway Safety Administration says that 80 percent of all car crashes are the result of some sort of distracted driving. Putting-on make-up behind the wheel is the fifth highest common distraction while driving. Statistics at LearnVest say that about 3 percent of all women will crash because of applying make-up at the wheel. The Foundation Financial Group in Florida says that 75 percent of all make-up car crashes are by women under 27. While we hear a lot about the danger of texting and driving, an insurance representative at Brightway Insurance says that make-up and driving is just as real of a threat.

USA Today claims that 14 percent of women apply make-up while driving in the car, and 7 percent of women say that they do this frequently. In fact, a quick online search will show that there are even YouTube tutorials on who to best apply make-up while driving a car! In response to this dangerous threat to drivers, the California Highway Patrol is cracking down on distracted driving. On New Years' Eve, the CHP set out on a "zero tolerance policy" and pulled over any drivers who were eating, reading, and putting on makeup on the road. The CHP reasons that while there is not a specified law against putting makeup on in the car, there are laws against distracted driving. Under the California Vehicle code, a driver can be ticketed for disregarding safety on the road. In the end, it is best to forfeit that extra ten minutes of sleep and put on your cosmetics in the bathroom mirror. Distracted drivers are a threat on the highway and cosmetics on that morning commute are dangerous enough to start a crash.