Couples start fights in 22 minutes
Most squabbling partners don't talk to each other
London: They may have a long drive ahead, but many couples will spend much of the time in silence, it seems.
The arguments start on average just 22 minutes into a car journey, research suggests. More than half of couples admit that they spend the remainder of the trip not talking to each other.
One in ten motorists admit that an in-car argument has been so bad that it led to separation, a study made by Spanish carmaker Seat showed.
Trigger points
Disagreements about directions and getting lost top the list of trigger points, with nearly half of those surveyed (44 per cent) citing these as reasons for a bust-up.
It is followed closely by arguments over finding and manoeuvring into parking places.
Driving too quickly causes more than a third of rows (34 per cent), while nearly a quarter of disagreements centre on driving too closely to the car in front. Whoever is at the wheel, man or woman, they do not welcome advice from their partner. Backseat driving is responsible for one in five rows.
The survey of 3,000 motorists reveals that 71 per cent of adults have argued with their partner about the quality of their driving. Many don't take things to such extremes as breaking up but vent their anger in other ways.
One in five motorists says they have pulled the car on to the kerb and refused to drive any further until their partner got out of the car. A similar proportion (19 per cent) say things have sometimes been so fraught that they've chosen to get out of the car and walk home.
