Bedford Driving Lessons

From Toad of Toad Hall to Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson, just a whiff of petrol is enough to make some drivers act strangely. Now scientists think they know why. A study has shown that petrol fumes can fuel aggressive behaviour, turning placid males into raging petrol heads. Although researchers made the discovery on animals, they suspect petrol vapours at service stations or in car fumes could have a similar effect on motorists. In the most serious cases, a heavy dose of fumes could even fuel road rage. The findings come from Amal Kinawy, of Cairo University, who looked at the effects of petrol vapour on 45 male rats. For 30 minutes a day, some were exposed to fumes from leaded petrol, others to unleaded petrol and a control group enjoyed fresh air. Their behaviour – including their tendency to bite, chatter with their teeth, arch their backs or hold a defensive ‘boxing position’ – was monitored over six weeks. Rats exposed to either type of petrol became more aggressive and spent longer fighting with their cage mates than those given a daily blast of fresh air, Dr Kinawy reports in the journal BMC Physiology. More