Study Says Rock Music Makes You Drive Faster

A Chinese study has apparently found that listening to fast paced music like rock makes you drive faster.

More specifically, the study found that drivers listening to music at more than 120 beats per minute led drivers to change lanes more often and drive faster.

Participants listening to slow music or no music at all averaged 70 lane changes per hour in a controlled environment while participants who had face paced music playing changed lanes 140 times and drove 10 mph faster than the previous group.

Qiang Zeng, a co-author of the study carried out by South China University of Technology and Guangdong University of Technology, said “Rock music is often characterised as having a fast tempo and high sound volume”.

“The findings are useful for the development of effective driver education strategies — in particular, a publicity programme that could enhance public awareness of the negative impact of music listening on driving performance,” Zeng added.

So what was the most dangerous song to listen to? Apparently, drivers listening to American Idiot by Green Day (189 beats per minute) were the most influenced by the music while drivers listening to Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin (63 beats per minute) were the safest on the road.