Your playlist could be making you a worse driver
If you’ve ever found yourself flooring it when your favourite banger drops, you’re not aloneAccording to new research from car insurer Allianz, nearly a third (32 per cent) of Aussie drivers say music affects their driving, and not always in a good way. In fact, fast-paced tunes could be turbo-charging your speed and putting your concentration into a spin.
Just in time for National Road Safety Week (11th to the 18th of May), Allianz in partnership with Spotify have released Seat Belters, a new in-app experience that generates a personalised playlist with songs sitting comfortably between 60–80 beats per minute (BPM). Read, Smooth FM for young people.
That’s the musical sweet spot for focus and calm behind the wheel, according to studies on driving behaviour.
“Enhanced situational awareness is paramount for road safety,” says Road Safety Expert and Professor, Dr Andry Rakotonirainy. “Research, including studies by Allianz has shown that faster-paced music directly correlates with increased driver distraction, leading to poor decision making.”
In other words, that 140BPM dance track from Dom Dolla might be great for your gym session, but it’s not doing you (or your fellow drivers) any favours on the freeway. Sorry Charli XCX!
Allianz’s survey of 1000 Australians with a driver’s license found that 33 per cent say high-tempo music decreases their concentration, and nearly 30 per cent admit it makes them drive faster.
Yet, 44 per cent crank up the volume when their favourite track plays, especially among the 52 per cent of us who love a singalong behind the wheel.
Of all surveyed drivers, 58 per cent stated they listen to music at a conversational volume, 21 per cent said the volume is not very loud, 17 per cent stated the volume is loud, and 2 per cent shouted that the volume is very loud, and they can’t hear others in the car or road traffic at all.
Not surprisingly, 35 per cent report turning the music down when parking to help them concentrate.
Some other interesting results from the survey include the fact 20 per cent of Australian drivers say they shuffle existing music when they start driving, another 20 per cent don’t have a car playlist at all.
While 11 per cent will skip certain parts of a song they don’t like, 9 per cent will dance along to the music (guilty), while 6 per cent touch their phone to scroll through playlists to find a song (tsk tsk).
Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of those impacted by fast-tempo music acknowledge that music with a higher BPM affects their reaction times and overall awareness.
That’s what Seat Belters is hoping to rectify, by creating mellow playlists designed to take the edge off your drive. “Music provokes intense feelings,” says Brian Berner, Global Head of Advertising Sales & Partnerships at Spotify. “We know listeners get a mood boost when they tune into Spotify…I’m thrilled to see Allianz creatively leverage Spotify and the power of music for such an important and thoughtful campaign.”
You can create your own custom Seat Belters playlist now on Spotify.
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