Many have seen and laughed at quirky comments on social media poking fun at the need to turn down the music for a driver to see better. In fact, many drivers do actually turn down their music when they need to think more carefully about their route, not because it helps them see better but because it helps them concentrate more.
While the social media remarks may seem funny, it is also a personal indictment on each driver that has done this, showing how music can affect your driving. The CEO of MasterDrive, Eugene Herbert, explains further: “International studies found loud music can increase the chance of crashing and driving irresponsibly. It can cause distractions that negatively impact reaction times. Loud radios can result in not braking soon enough or not taking evasive action to obstacles quickly enough.
“In fact, listening to loud music while driving is outlawed in certain cities around the world. In particular, Nevada in the USA considers listening to loud music as distracted driving. A Canadian study says that people listening to loud music take 20% longer to complete mental and physical tasks. Additionally, the tempo of the music can affect reckless driving according to a study conducted at Ben-Gurion University. Music with higher tempos cause heart rates to speed up which affects your speed and concentration levels without even realising it,” says Herbert.
Other potential effects on driving include:
- Being twice as likely to skip a red light
- Teenagers in particular are at higher risk and commit more driving errors when listening to loud music, including speeding and weaving.
- Loud music can also hinder your ability to hear and your reaction times to emergency sirens
Ultimately, loud music and driving creates a very dangerous situation. “Distracted driving in a high-speed situation as a result of this, combined with a delay in reaction times creates a deadly situation. In South Africa there isn’t a specific law banning loud music while driving. Does that mean you can jump in your car tonight and turn the sound all the way up?
“The answer to that, for drivers committed to using the roads safely and to reducing road tragedy, is no. Safe driving behaviour is not solely dependent on what the law says. It depends on each driver identifying dangerous driving situations and changing their behaviour to reduce the risk as much as possible. The next time you reach over to crank up the sound keep these studies in mind and do not expose yourself or other road users to unnecessary risk,” says Herbert.
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