Music to my ears?

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I’ve written about distracted driving a lot.  Because too many folks try to escalate the practice of talking on the phone (hands-free) to a national calamity.  When it is clear that talking on the phone is no different than talking to a compatriot in the same car or listening to talk radio, and certainly less of an issue than turning around to deal with one’s children in the car.

The second one dials on the phone (instead of using the hands-free mode that my phone and most have)- well, that’s distracted driving.  As is, pushing buttons on the radio or seeking the “exact” station one wants.  (All my radio stations are preset and the controls are on the steering wheel- which sometimes means that I change stations when turning the wheel without desiring to do so…)

I also discussed the fact that novice drivers don’t have the skills to use hands-free devices while driving.  Because (this is the one thing I ever learned from my driver ed instructor- but that’s a different story)  new drivers don’t ‘drive’ cars, they ‘operate’ them.  And, that’s why states like Virginia outlaw additional riders in the car or using telephones of any sort when the driver is under the age of 18 or a novice driver.

Now, Drs. Warren  Brodsky  and Zack Slor of Ben-Gurion University (Israel) examined (Accident Analysis and Behavior) the behaviors of 85 drivers around the age of 18.  The subject’s task- complete six challenging road trips of some 40 minutes duration each.  (Of course, they were accompanied by a driving instructor during these tests.)  On four of the trips, music was played; two employed background music (easy listening, light jazz) [I will term that ‘Muzak’] and two played music from the driver’s own playlists.  There was no music on the last two trips.

In addition to being monitored via in-car data recorders (to monitor driver behavior and errors), the drivers rated their own moods during the trips.  There was not a single subject that did not commit three (3) errors in one or more of the six trips.  Furthermore, 27 subjects (32%) were verbally warned by their accompanying instructor and 17 subjects (20%) actually required intervention by the instructor to preclude accidents.

The driving violations ranged from speeding, tailgating, inappropriate lane behavior, weaving, and one-handed driving.  (I am not sure I would truly include one-handed driving as an infraction, since most [all of us?] consider this normal behavior; I certainly would have an issue with exceeding the speed limit by 5 or 10 mph with or without the presence of music.)

And, it gets better.  98% of the drivers committed those errors when they were listening to their playlists, while 92% erred when it was quiet.  Interestingly, 77% erred when the “Muzak” was employed.

Male drivers were more aggressive than the female drivers (d-uh) and the teens played their playlists at higher decibel levels than the ‘Muzak’ (the music that afforded the lowest failure rate).

It should be noted that these were instrumented driver instruction vehicles (with which the teens were probably unfamiliar)- and when coupled with the presence of the instructor- one would expect the teens to be at their most lawful driving behaviors.

Using older drivers (19 to 25, with 2.5 years of driving experiences), Ayca Berfu Unal, Linda Steg, and Kai Epstude found that music chosen by 69 subjects did not impact their driving performance.  But, this was also simulation and not actual driving- and more experienced and older drivers in this study (also, Accident Analysis and Prevention).

At the very least, these studies prove that novice drivers simply make more mistakes, not a surprising conclusion.   And, silence in the car was less “safe” than having “Muzak” in the background, choosing the proper music could make for fewer accidents.

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Let’s take a moment.   Recall where you were at 9 AM EDT a dozen years ago.  Now, a moment of silence to honor those taken, to honor those on 93 who refused to go quietly, and to all those who worked selflessly to help those in need that day.

 

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4 thoughts on “Music to my ears?”

    1. Glad to hear you like that music. I, for one, don’t. I prefer the news or a book… NOT a non-fiction one, because that requires too much attention devoted to the listening. (I even have to backpedal on the book to catch something that I failed to listen to – the drive is more important.)

      Thanks for the visit AND the comment.

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