Music can affect your driving – but not always how you’d expect |
For many of us, listening to music is simply part of the driving routine – as ordinary as wearing a seatbelt. We build playlists for road trips, pick songs to stay awake, and even turn the volume up when traffic gets stressful.
More than 80% of drivers listen to music on most trips. And many young drivers find it difficult to concentrate without it.
We tend to think music relaxes us, energises us, or helps us focus when we’re behind the wheel.
But the science paints a more complicated picture. Decades of studies show music can sharpen some aspects of driving and dull others. And it affects young drivers differently from more experienced ones.
Most studies use driving simulators, where participants drive through realistic road scenarios while researchers change only one thing: the music.
This allows precise measurement of indicators such as speed, reaction time, lane-keeping, braking, following distance, simulated collisions and even the driver’s physiological state under different music conditions.
Because everything else is held constant, any difference in driving performance can be attributed to the music.
Researchers have tested different music and driving scenarios in dozens of small studies – often with often conflicting conclusions. To make sense of these........