It is a bit a late for the study results, since this year’s Champions League came to an end yesterday, but the main idea stands for future football events as well. According to the ‘Football Focus’ report, about two million motorists had or nearly had an accident while listening to football and driving at the same time.
Professor Michael Pont of the University of Leicester thinks that this activity has a risk level comparable to that of talking or texting while driving. "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. The results we obtained suggest that, particularly during high-pressure situations within the games, there was a very marked impact on the behavior of the subjects in this study."
The scientists tested the participants by asking them to drive down a motorway in a driving a simulator and listen to live football matches at the same time. The results clearly showed that the pace of the game, goal scoring and penalty decisions have seriously affected the ability and concentration of supporters behind the wheel.
"Results from these driving simulator tests gives great cause for concern – particularly with kick-off time for the Champions League Final fast approaching,” said Mike Pickard, head of risk and underwriting at ESURE. "Red cards, penalty shoot-outs, and the intensity and pace of a football match can result in sudden acceleration or deceleration, erratic lane changes, tailgating and overtaking maneuvers."
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