Music fan drivers may be on the road to nowhere

THEY may appear like mild-mannered, cultured souls, but beneath their love of classical music beats the heart of a potential boy racer.

Lyric FM listeners might seem more cultured to dance-crazed junkies, but it seems they have more in common with the rave generation than they might have thought.

Both types of music fans have been proven to pose a serious threat to road safety.

Scientists have found that motorists who listen to music on their car stereos at high volume, particularly tracks above 60 beats per minute, run a high risk of an accident.

The study by Canadian researchers indicated that loud music reduced a driver's reaction time by as much as 20% a delay that could mean the difference between life and death.

On foot of the research, the RAC motoring group in Britain yesterday named and shamed the top five most perilous pieces to play at more than 95 decibels. These are:

The Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner.

Firestarter by bad boys of dance music The Prodigy.

Red Alert by Basement Jaxx.

Insomnia by Faithless.

Dies Irae (Requiem) by Verdi.

Edmund King of RAC Foundation said that the study showed that "not only is loud music a nuisance to others, it could also be the cause of accidents.

Although the decreasein reaction time from playing loud music translates into mere fractions of a second, this reduction could mean the difference between a hit or a miss," said Mr King.

Drivers are also twice as likely to skip a red light while listening to music.