Nowadays, having a stereo in the car is not a luxury, but quite commonplace. Many car owners try to improve the music system and are willing to spend a lot of money to have good acoustics and sound. However, the vast majority of drivers do not think about the fact that the type and volume of musical accompaniment noticeably affects the psyche, sometimes dramatically changing the manner of driving. What do scientists advise us to listen while driving, so as not to accidentally get into an accident?
First of all, it should be noted that any music inevitably distracts attention from the road. Just think how much stress your brain experiences when you are driving! If there are too many external stimuli, some of its functions are disconnected due to the lack of “RAM”. You become distracted, you feel worse about the car, you react a little slower to what’s going on around you. It can also manifest as tunnel vision, where you don’t notice what’s going on at the edge. Everyone has different symptoms. Also read about jeep engine swaps here.
But driving without music at all is not an option either, because half an hour of monotonous driving inevitably causes drowsiness in the driver, which is no less dangerous on the road. Experts say, almost half of car owners turn on a loud music when they sharply wanted to sleep, but recommend stopping the car and going out to get some fresh air, because not all music can really wake you up. And now let’s get to the point: what do experts advise to listen in the car?
Choosing a genre
To answer this question, the scientists conducted an experiment about 800 kilometers long. The role of the subjects were four men and the same number of women. The first 400 kilometers they drove in relative silence, not counting the background sounds (road noise and wind outside the window). Meanwhile, the cars were equipped with sensors that closely monitored speed changes, gas/brake use and other signs to analyze drivers’ behavior on the highway.
After taking control measurements of each subject’s driving style, the researchers asked them to drive the second half of the route to different music. As a result, women listening to hip-hop or r’n’b while driving showed the most aggressive driving: they pressed the gas harder and braked at the last second. For men, heavy music like rock or metal had a similar effect.
Other studies have shown that energetic club music with a fast rhythm (house, techno), can also negatively affect the driving style of the driver. It provokes a person to break the rules: speeding, overtaking other drivers, taking risks and sometimes acting like a computer game character. However, pathos accident on the virtual track is not the same as the full speed of bumping into a real concrete post or ramming someone else’s car …
Psychologists also warn, that it is extremely undesirable to listen while driving the songs with the words, in sense of which you want to think (as a rule, if you know the language in which the song sounds, you involuntarily think into its content). The same can be said about almost any modern radio station: it is a common practice for DJs to ramble on and on about everything that comes into their heads, so that listeners don’t get bored and switch, and to dilute that mess with commercials. Except that these people are sitting in a cozy, safe studio, and generating lyrics is their only job, while you’re driving a car that weighs about two tons.
What about classical music? It turns out that you should not listen to it while driving, because it calms down and overly lulls the driver, and thus can easily “lull” him. There are also works that are too voluminous and difficult to understand when one is busy doing something else (like driving a car). Like chatter on the radio or a pop song, they can make you think and, as a result, lose control of the car or become the instigator of an accident on the road. In particular, the dissonant works of Wagner and Liszt are not recommended for driving.
As a result, the most useful and safe for those who drive, recognized the music, the rhythm of which coincides with the rhythm of the human heartbeat in a normal state (it is on average 60-80 beats per minute). By the way, most of the light jazz and soul falls under this definition. Drivers who give preference to these genres, behave on the road confidently and at the same time moderately relaxed, not inclined to violate traffic rules and speeding.
However, these tips – only general recommendations for the average “average” driver. In life, we are seldom “normal”: someone stormy or, conversely, a mild temperament, someone angry after a dispute with the boss, and someone not slept today … All this, of course, affect the style of driving. Therefore, if the driver at the moment “on edge”, or easily lose their temper and “press the pedal to the floor”, calm and melodious music – is what the doctor prescribed. If, on the contrary, you need a stimulant, you can play something dynamic.
Keep it down
Scientists recently conducted several experiments to understand exactly how loud music in the car can affect the driver while driving. They found that listening to loud music decreases physical or mental speed by 20 percent. In addition, drivers are twice as likely to violate traffic laws by ignoring yellow and even red traffic lights. Do we need to explain what the consequences might be?
The Highway Patrol strongly discourages drivers of vehicles from playing loud music and opening their windows at the same time. This way the person driving not only abstracts himself from the roadway and cannot hear the sound signals, but also disturbs other road users, who are sure to start squinting in the direction of the “loud” car and distracted from the traffic on the road.
There is another danger that the driver and passengers may not notice: the volume and low frequencies that the ear can hear are actually many times greater, because the car is a small enclosed space. If you often listen to loud music in the cabin, you can seriously “damage” your hearing. This is, perhaps, the case when the phrase “the quieter you drive, the farther you’ll be” should be taken literally.