If you’re anything like us, you probably know that listening to brutal death metal while driving is one of the best ways to live your best life. For our part, we highly recommend Morbid Angel’s Altars Of Madness or maybe even Death’s Leprosy to get your fill of riffs on the road. Anyway, it brings up an interesting question – what music might actually be dangerous to listen to while driving?
Thanks to a new study from the South China University Of Technology, we now know that songs from Miley Cyrus and Bruce Springsteen are among the most dangerous ones to hit the road to – and that Red Hot Chili Peppers and “Africa” by Toto are the least dangerous songs to hear while driving. No word on where Weezer’s “Africa” cover ranks, though.
According to Ultimate Classic Rock, we know this – “For the study, participants were placed in a driving simulator for 20 minutes of movement on a six-lane road. They were then exposed to various types of music, or none at all. The results suggested that, when listening to music faster than 120 beats per minute, drivers changed lanes twice as often as normal and increased their speed to 5 mph above the limit.”
Lead researcher for the study, Qiang Zeng, said that “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.”
Most Dangerous Driving Songs:
1. “American Idiot” – Green Day
2. “Party In The U.S.A.” – Miley Cyrus
3. “Mr. Brightside” – The Killers
4. “Don’t Let Me Down” – The Chainsmokers
5. “Born To Run” – Bruce Springsteen
Least Dangerous Driving Songs:
1. “Stairway to Heaven” – Led Zeppelin
2. “Under the Bridge” – Red Hot Chill Peppers
3. “God’s Plan” – Drake
4. “Africa” – Toto
5. “Location” – Khalid
One wonders where, if included on a study like this, where Metallica or Judas Priest might rank. One thing’s for sure – we’ll probably never stop driving along to our favorite music.
