Last year, the Accident Analysis and Prevention science journal told of research showing that singing in the car could make you a worse, more hazardous driver, but it didn’t say anything about hardcore drum n bass music.

Nevertheless, Police have charged a man ‘drunk’ on dance music for dangerous driving after he was pulled over by cops who thought he was under the influence from a lot more than a good beat.

As The Bristol Post reports, Police flagged down a white Ford van after the driver was seen driving erratically through the back streets of England’s south-west, before sluggishly driving through two sets of red lights, then taking a sharp corner and almost hitting a pedestrian.

Officers though the driver’s erratic behaviour was because he was under the influence, but when they pulled 25-year-old professional driver Aaron Cogley over and breathalysed him, they found that he was neither intoxicated or on drugs, but “high on drum and bass” –  drunk from the deep beats blasting from his car stereo, Bristol Crown Court was told.

Cogley, a former resident of Gardener Road, Portishead (somewhat fitting) and now reportedly homeless, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and has been banned from driving for 12 months. Prosecutor Mark Hollier told the court that Cogley was spotted by an unmarked police car from Marlborough Street into Dighton Street, “cut up” a motorist and turned a corner so hard that the van rocked on its chassis.

Mr Hollier also told the court how police eventually apprehended Cogley but he blew a zero reading when he was breathalysed, “when asked about it he said he was listening to drum and bass and was in a hurry,” Mr Hollier said.  “It was stupid. He was carried away because of the intoxicating effects of drum and bass music.” – David Miller, Defense Attorney

David Miller, Mr Cogley’s legal representative, said he was not involved in a “police chase” but would lose his job over the driving ban, “it was stupid. He was carried away because of the intoxicating effects of drum and bass music.” Amusingly, Mr Kevin De Haan QC, passing the 12 month sentence described the heavy dance music as “intoxicating for some. Very irritating for others.”

Addressing Mr Cogley directly, he stated: “It’s always serious, dangerous driving. Even if you only went up to 40mph you were lucky that night. You could have had an accident and been hurt, or worse you could have hurt someone else. Police thought you had taken something.” The drum and bass driver was also sentenced to 80 hours community service, ordered to pass an extended driving test, and copped a fine of £60 as a victim surcharge.

It’s not the first time that a Bristol dance fan’s music preferences has landed them into hot water, last year 45-year-old Dave ‘Techno’ Lea received an emergency injunction for anti-social behaviour from Bristol City Council after his all-hours, late-night raves from “hundreds” of visitors prompted noise complaints from disgruntled neighbours.

Local Courts then banned Techno Dave from going within 100 metres of his flat and nearby residents in his tenement block before eventually evicting the rave-happy resident from the housing estate.

Also in the ‘WTF’ music report pile, is New Hampshire resident Joyce Coffey, who managed to set an unofficial record for ‘most arrests to an AC/DC Song’, blasting ‘Highway To Hell’ at deafening volumes at her home while getting involved in domestic disputes that saw police officers called out to her home on four separate occasions within 24 hours.

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