Researchers of a new study found that teenagers listening to their favorite music while driving are more likely to cause accidents, errors and miscalculations.
Many studies have been conducted focusing on how using cell phones while driving can lead to accidents and errors. A new study, for the first time, looked at how the type of music one is listening to affects driving capabilities.
Researchers of this new study found that teenagers listening to their favorite music while driving are more likely to cause accidents, errors and miscalculations. Male novice teenage drivers listening to their favorite music were more likely to make more serious and frequent mistakes than less aggressive, female teenage drivers.
The study was conducted on 85 teenagers who took up six challenging 40-minutes driving trips with an instructor sitting beside them. Two trips included listening to music from the driver's own playlist, two trips with music that is said to increase driving safety and two trips without any music. The researchers measured the driver's driving capabilities by measuring driver deficiencies and decreased vehicle performance.
Researchers found that 98 percent of the participants showed at least 3 driver deficiencies in at least one of the trips where they listened to their preferred music. 32 percent of them needed a verbal warning and 20 percent needed physical assistance with either the steering or brakes to avoid an accident. These driver deficiencies included speeding, tailgating, careless lane switching, passing vehicles and one-handed driving.
"Most drivers worldwide prefer to listen to music in a car and those between ages 16 to 30 choose driving to pop, rock, dance, hip-hop and rap," GU Director of Music Science Research Warren Brodsky explained in a press release. "Young drivers also tend to play this highly energetic, fast-paced music very loudly -- approximately 120 to 130 decibels."
Comparatively, 92 percent of the participants made errors while listening to no music at all. The number of errors decreased by 20 percent when participants listened to music designed to increase driving safety.
"Drivers in general are not aware that as they get drawn-in by a song, they move from an extra-personal space involving driving tasks, to a more personal space of active music listening," authors of the study concluded.
Another similar study conducted earlier this month by researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center found that ADHD impairs a teenager's driving skills as much as texting while driving.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report that said four in every ten teenagers in the country admitted to texting while driving. Researchers also found that such teenagers were also likely to indulge in other risky behaviors like drinking under the influence of alcohol and not using their seat belts.
