It’s New Year’s Eve. You’re out with your spouse or sweetheart. What a perfect night for … an argument.

Hey, it happens. But if you get into a row because one of you seemed too flirtatious with another party-goer or someone gave the wrong answer to the all-important “Do I look fat in this?” resolve it before you get into the car. A survey by the British auto insurer MORE TH>N, blames “romantic road rage” for more than 2.5 million traffic accidents in Britain.

Yep, romantic road rage. Instead of being ticked off at someone in the other lane, motorists were ticked off at their significant others and it had an impact—literally—on their driving.

More than 30 percent of those polled by MORE TH>N, admitted they’d driven erratically immediately after an argument with a loved one. And that’s to be expected, according to Honey Langcaster-James, a relationship psychologist at the University of Hull in Yorkshire. As she told The Times of London, “With personal issues racing through their mind, drivers are at risk of subconsciously releasing tension by driving fast, or on the other hand, being distracted by their heartache.”

Based on the U.K.’s guidelines for driving following alcohol consumption, Langcaster-James devised the following cool-down guidelines for how long to wait before driving after a lovers’ spat:

• Silent treatment. 5 minutes minimum, preferably after venting frustrations to a friend so the driver will feel “heard.”

• Nasty remark. 10 minutes minimum while breathing deeply to release tension.

• Heated debate. 15 minutes minimum while attempting to resolve the issue.

• Exchanging angry words. 30 minutes minimum while avoiding further discussion that could escalate the problem.

• Whopping big argument. Pretend you’ve had too much to drink and call a cab. Don’t drive until you work it out.