According to a survey of 2,000 motorists by car insurer, Admiral, the top two distracting things a passenger can do are backseat driving and children making noise. A third of drivers also find general chatter with passengers off-putting when they’re driving.

For some unlucky drivers, irritating passengers aren’t just limited to opinionated adults or noisy kids. Some of the more unusual reasons given for motorists nearly crashing due to their passengers include:

1. A wasp entered the car, my girlfriend flipped out and caused a big scene and I crashed into the kerb

2. Drunk and loud friends were distracting me by talking and singing

3. I got drowsy because my passenger insisted on having the heater turned up full

4. My ex-wife slapped me in the face whilst I was driving at speed on the M5

5. My mate poked me in the eye whilst I was driving on a roundabout. I could not see a thing and had to stop

6. My mother held her arm right in front of my eyes in order to show me where to turn

7. My partner tried to force me to change lanes even though a car was about to overtake. He leaned over and tried to take the steering wheel to steer the car into the outside lane

8. My sister, a non-driver, leant across me to beep my horn and wave out of my window at a friend

9. Passenger pulled up the handbrake

10. Someone asked for a lighter in the back and I accidentally shunted the car in front.

Admiral’s managing director, Sue Longthorn, said: “Whilst these are extreme examples of accidents caused by passengers they do highlight how easy it is to be sidetracked by the people in your vehicle, whether they’re noisy children or adults who think they know how you should be driving.

“Motorists are carrying passengers in three out of ten of the accidents reported to us and the most common type of accident for a motorist with passengers is where another vehicle has hit our customer’s open door. I’m sure many of us have been guilty at some point of not always paying attention when exiting our car and it seems this type of accident probably has something to do with talking to passengers instead of checking for traffic.”

The research also reveals almost four out of ten motorists alter the way they drive when carrying passengers but not always for the better. While almost three out of ten said they drive more slowly and carefully with passengers, almost one in ten admitted it made them drive faster and less carefully.

Four out of ten motorists said they prefer driving without any passengers and almost a quarter said there are more nervous driving with passengers than on their own.

There’s a marked difference between the sexes too and driving with other people is certainly more of a concern for women than it is for men. More women than men prefer driving without passengers and twice as many women as men admit to being nervous with passengers in the car with them.

Despite more women admitting to finding passengers distracting, Admiral‘s research has shown almost twice as many male motorists than female motorists admit to having a crash which was caused by a passenger distracting them.