Listening to music while at the wheel can have a significant impact on the way you drive, it has been claimed.

The RAC Foundation has made this statement following research carried out recently in Israel. It showed that drivers listening to up tempo music had twice as many accidents as those who listen to slower music.

In the study, motorists were placed in a driving simulator and given either slow ballads or dance music to listen to. Motorists listening to fast music where twice as likely to drive through a red light or have an accident.

"In general, if music is above 60 beats per minute, listeners experience a faster heart rate and increased blood pressure," Conrad King, Consultant Psychologist to the RAC Foundation, said.

"With dance music, that is fairly common. Classical music is not as fast, but the number of notes, combined with the repetitive crescendo and diminuendo can have the same effect.

"There is no fundamental difference between the boy racer listening to rave music and the business man in his new Jaguar pumping out opera. When he has the Ride of the Valkyries coming out of the speakers, heaven help anyone who gets in his way. It all depends on the speed of the beat of the music."

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