FOR MANY motorists, they are the toe-tapping tunes that make interminable traffic jams and long, lonely journeys bearable. But drivers who enjoy the disco beats of Barry White, an air-punching Meatloaf anthem or some vigorous Wagner pose a serious threat to road safety, according to the latest research.

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, showed that loud music reduced a driver’s reaction time by as much as 20 per cent, a fatal delay even when driving in good weather and at moderate speed.

After publication of the research, based on tunes played at up to 95 decibels, the RAC Foundation yesterday named the top five most perilous pieces to play while on the road. Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries was the worst potential offender, followed by the frantic beats of the Prodigy, Basement Jaxx and Faithless. Verdi’s Dies Irae came fifth.

In the study, conducted at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, people performed physical and mental tasks while listening to levels of noise varying from 53 decibels, the level of an office workplace, to 95 decibels, the noise of a working oilrig.

Results showed that reaction times decreased significantly at higher noise levels for both physical and mental tasks, with participants’ speed of decision-taking dropping to 80 per cent.

Conrad King, a consultant psychologist, said that the findings confirmed the need for drivers to choose their music with care.

Previous research has shown that the number of beats per minute in a piece of music can affect a driver’s mood and tolerance at the wheel.

“It is important that drivers choose their music carefully when driving, as up-tempo music has been shown to cause drivers to have double the amount of accidents as those listening to slower music,” Mr King said.

“In general, if music is above 60 beats a minute, listeners experience a faster heart rate and increased blood pressure. It doesn’t matter if you listen to opera, classical or the latest rave music. It’s the speed of the beat that counts.”

The RAC said that a playlist of easy-listening favourites was to be recommended, such as the 52-beat-a-minute 1970s classic Heatwave ballad Always and Forever. Drivers who were listening to music with a fast beat were twice as likely to go through a red light and have twice as many accidents.

Top of the list of music to drive by were the recent cover version of Mad World by Gary Jules, followed by Lemar’s Another Day, Sugababes’ Too Lost in You, Blue’s Breathe Easy and Norah Jones’s Come away with Me.

The listening habits of British drivers paint a very different picture, however.