Man caught reading a novel while driving on highway in Eagan, Minn.

EAGAN, Minn. (KMSP) - Sometimes a book is just too good to put down… and that's perhaps the only defense for one driver after he was pulled over on Highway 149 in Eagan for reading a novel. Seems funny at first, but it's actually pretty dangerous.

Dash cam video shows the officer asking the driver what he was looking at -- "I was reading," the driver responded. "What were you reading?" the officer asked. "A James Patterson book,” he replied.

In this case, the plot twist came not from James Patterson, but from the writings of a citation.

“The nicest guy, obviously not the smartest thing to do while driving. Very dangerous. But he kind of got it, knew he made a mistake and the officer went back and ended up giving him a citation,” Officer Aaron Machtemes, spokesperson for Eagan Police, said.

He said especially during the day there are a lot of accidents caused by people texting or doing other things on their iPhone – “and they look down for two seconds, that's when the person ahead of them hits the brakes and there's an accident.”

“Just recently, as of today, I heard of a lady with big curls in her hair and as she's driving she's taking her curls out with her knees up on the wheel,” Machtemes said.

Machtemes said distracted driving is only getting worse -- mostly because of smart phones. A suggestion the officer had to avoid temptation is to put your phone on vibrate and in the glove box.

“Stay alive, don't novel and drive,” Machtemes said.