(ThyBlackMan.com) Something you won’t learn from taking traffic school online is how music affects your driving. Whether you’re needing a quick pick me up or to cool yourself down from being a victim of an aggressive driver, music has its role in impacting how you drive. According to a study out of London Metropolitan University, researchers have discovered just how and why music will change the way you operate a vehicle.
In some cases, listening to music will lead to better driving, and keep you from needing to find your CA traffic court, whereas listening to some specific tunes will increase your likelihood of driving recklessly. If you’re known to drive aggressively, maybe consider switching up your car’s favorite playlist.
Fast Paced Music Equals Face Paced Driving
According to the study, fast paced music will make you drive faster on the road. The reason has to do with the beats per minute (BPM) of the song and your internal tempo. Dr. Moore, one of the researchers who took part in the study, reported, “Fast beats can cause excitement and arousal that can lead people to concentrate more on the music than on the road.” Suffice to say, people will become in tune with the music than the tune of their own car.
Fast paced songs are just one of the many types of music that will lead to distracted driving. To avoid this, try listening to more piano ballads or some nice slow jazz.
Loud Music Requires More Mental Effort
Another part of the study suggests that listening to loud music will result in greater mental effort to make decisions behind the wheel. In other words, making basic decision, such as turning right or crossing busy intersections, will becoming more mentally draining when you’re listening to loud music.
The reason why this happens is because driving on the road sends countless stimuli to the brain. Between heavy traffic conditions, paying attention to your dashboard information, and comfortability of your vehicle, there’s a plethora of variables competing for your attention. The one thing that will make it worse is the jarring loudness of music blaring across your car’s speakers.
Therefore, listening to no music will be the best way to efficiently use your mental capabilities while driving. The next best thing is to listen to music on a lower volume.
Bad Music is Distracted Driving
Another interesting, albeit obvious, finding is how music you consider “bad” will account for distracted driving. Nobody enjoys listening to terrible music. Now, you have a legitimate excuse to choose new tunes anytime your passengers play a song you do not like.
When you’re listening to a “bad” song, you will pay more attention to your disgust in the music than you would to the road in front of you. Of course, listening to bad music will account for bad driving, but what effects does your favorite music have on you?
Favorite Music Aggressive Attitude
While driving and listening to your favorite music, you will, overall, become happier behind the wheel. However, you will also become more aggressive. Along with this, you will drive faster on the roads.
This could be because you are more focused on jamming out to your favorite track than you are driving defensively. We’re all guilty of having a selection of favorite songs we like to play while on the road. It helps soften the blow of congested commuter traffic and serves as a coping mechanism for bad drivers.
However, we sometimes lose track of how our favorite songs could lead to our worst drives.
Staff Writer; Roy Brown
