You heard it hear, listening Frank Sinatra while driving makes you a safer driver.
That’s one of the many assumptions being pulled from a report out of the UK. Privilege Insurance conducted a survey
of 1780 about their music habits and then examined that data in light of their driving records. Out of those
surveyed, those with four or more years of accident free driving tended to listened to easy listening, classical,
and rock. Those with less than four years of accident free driving tended to listened to dance, hip-hop/R&B, and
rock. Pop music was also popular between both groups. The results of this study seem suspect to us, but it is still
entertaining. A few notable ‘safe’ songs include ‘Heya’ from OutKast and ‘Canon in D’. Some notable ‘unsafe’ songs
include ‘Firestarter’ by The Prodigy, ‘Start the Riot’ by Atari Teenage Riot (I guess ‘Destroy 2000 Years of
Culture’ is a little more soothing), and ‘Kim’ by Eminem. This survey was conducted in the UK, so some of the
other songs do not ring a bell to us.
Dr Nicola Dibben, a music psychologist from the University of Sheffield, conducted the survey. She said complex music
with little repetition and ‘highly emotive vocals’ can be distracting and can lead to more aggressive driving [duh]. So
all of you out there listening to anything mathy (Dillinger Escape Plan) or emo while you drive, better switch over to
some Sinatra. Perhaps they will offer preferred music discounts on insurance premiums.