Citation

Dibben N, Williamson VJ. Psychol. Music 2007; 35(4): 571-589.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Society for Research in Psychology of Music and Music Education, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

This article reports on an exploratory survey of the impact of in-vehicle music listening on the driver's mood. The authors note that previous research suggests that music is a source of distraction and can influence driver mood, with subsequent effects on driving behavior. They conducted a survey to discover the extent to which people listen to music while driving, what they are listening to and why, and whether there is any association with driving safety. They used the presence of four or more years' no-claims on motor insurance as their measure. The results from the study of 1,780 British drivers reveals that approximately two-thirds listen to recorded music and music radio while driving, with music reported to be less distracting than conversation. The most commonly cited reasons for listening to music while driving were its benefits for relaxation and concentration. The survey found an association between possession of 'no claims' on motor insurance and a preference for silence. However, the genre of music playing also appears to influence driving performance: there is an association between possession of no-claims, genre of music, and a difference in the loudness at which certain genres were playing at the time of the last accident, relative to the expected norm for that genre. The authors conclude that their findings provide additional evidence for music as a source of in-vehicle distraction, which can have both positive and negative effects on driving performance.


Keywords: Driver distraction;

Language: en