Listening to sports commentary on the radio while driving can be dangerous, leading motorists to risk smashes during exciting moments, new research has claimed.
The study by scientists at the University of Leicester found that goals, penalties and red cards caused soccer fans to lose concentration and drive more erratically.
The study estimated that as many as 2m motorists in Britain alone have had an accident or near miss while listening to sport on the radio.
The research, which studied participants' behaviour on a driving simulator, found soccer fans would speed or suddenly slow down, overtake and get closer to other vehicles on the road as games developed.
The behaviour of fans behind the wheel was very different from that of the casual listener which was far more consistent, the study found.
'It is widely accepted that the distraction of talking on a hand-held mobile phone may lead to accidents, but other activities may have a similar impact, such as listening to sport on the radio,' said Professor Michael Pont.
'The results we obtained suggest that, particularly during high-pressure situations within games, there was a very marked impact on the behaviour of the subjects.'
'It is concluded that, where possible, football fans should ask someone else to drive during important matches,' Mr Pont said.
