Your driving may suffer if you listen to the football on the radio.
There are many things to get your emotions going when behind the wheel – frustrating fellow road users, traffic jams and annoying passengers – but there is one more to add to that list now that the football season has returned.
We all like to keep abreast of how our team is doing and if we can't make it to the living room or the pub because of travel commitments, you can bet we'll be listening to them on the radio. However, if you're doing this when driving, you could be distracting yourself more than you think.
According to new research from Confused.com, there have been many instances when listening to the football commentary has almost resulted in a crash. Indeed, 11 per cent of footy fans admitted that they have had or nearly had an accident as a result of this.
It seems we often struggle to keep our emotions in check when we mix football and driving. It was shown that one in 25 of us will drive more aggressively as a consequence of our team losing, while 18 per cent of us are so steadfast in our support for our team that we won't let cars displaying scarves or stickers of rival teams out at junctions.
The Premier League is now underway and there is the risk that the roads might become a much more dangerous place during matchdays. Those of you driving through West Bromwich, Sunderland and Norwich around 3pm on a Saturday afternoon may want to pay particular attention to the road, as supporters of these areas' main football teams were found to get the most stressed when listening to their side.
Gemma Stanbury, head of car insurance at the price comparison site, commented: "Worryingly there are clear consequences of listening to football commentary on the radio.
"The research indicates that people are being distracted when listening to their team and consequently accidents on the roads are being caused."
Posted by Fred Mason