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Playing singalong hits behind the wheel may leave you ‘mentally overloaded’ and at risk of errors, a study has warned. Or, as Rihanna might put it: ‘Shut up and drive!’
Researchers led from Brunel University put 34 adult volunteers in a driving simulator programmed to replicate urban roads and had them follow a set route.
During each eight-minute simulation, drivers were faced with five events to handle, including a pedestrian crossing the road, red traffic lights and a truck to overtake.
The team monitored each driver under one of six sound conditions — including urban traffic noise, spoken lyrics and either soft or loud music with or without lyrics.
They found that — perhaps because they were knew they were being observed — the drivers’ speed and performance was mostly unaffected by the music choices.
However, the researchers did find that listening to music that was loud or had lyrics led to higher levels of affective (emotional) arousal than soft, non-lyrical pieces.
Past studies have noted that loud, lyrical musical can elevate levels of activation and aggression — and encourage overconfidence, particular among younger drivers.
‘Drivers should consider the use of soft, non-lyrical music to optimise their affective state during urban driving,’ the researchers concluded.
Playing singalong hits behind the wheel may leave you ‘mentally overloaded’ and at risk of errors, a study has warned. Or, as Rihanna might put it: ‘Shut up and drive!’ Pictured: a young woman sings along to music in her car — and puts herself at risk (stock image)
‘The most important thing to consider when listening to music while driving is to ensure you are not mentally overloaded,’ paper author and psychologist Costas Karageorghis of Brunel University told the Times.
‘A number of internal and external factors can influence this, but one of the easiest to control is our choice of auditory stimulation, whether it be talk radio, podcasts or music,’ he explained.
‘Through minimising distractions, motorists are much better able to focus on the road and therefore stand a better chance of identifying potential hazards in time.’
‘The main implication of this simulation study from a safety perspective is that drivers should consider the use of soft, non-lyrical music to optimise their mental state when driving in a stressful urban environment.’
According to the researchers, concentration is of particular importance when driving in urban settings because of the tendency for more dense traffic, frequent junctions, roadworks, pedestrians and interweaving motorcyclists and cyclists.
City and suburban roads, they added, also increase the greater likelihood of ‘aggressive eye contact with other drivers’.
The team’s simulator experiments also revealed that drivers were an average of 37 per cent more stimulated when they listened to louder music at around 75 decibels — roughly the noise made by a vacuum cleaner in operation — than softer tracks.
Furthermore, women were found to exhibit higher levels of heart rate than men when driving while listening to music with lyrics.
Past studies have noted that loud, lyrical musical can elevate levels of activation and aggression, as well as encourage overconfidence, particular among younger drivers. Pictured: Elton John (left) and James Corden (right) don feather boas and fun glasses for a ‘Carpool Karaoke’ session on ‘The Late Late Show’ — but could this behaviour be putting them at risk?
‘Music often plays an integral role in driving,’ said Simon Hendrick, a spokesperson for insurance company Direct Line which helped fund the research, told the Times.
‘These findings are therefore really interesting from a safety perspective, as they show that music can influence your level of focus when behind the wheel.
‘In towns and cities there are so many potential risks, it makes sense to listen to music that keeps you calm but alert,’ he concluded.
The full findings of the study were published in the journal Transportation Research.
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