Kenneth Glad
Some music can influence mood and attention while driving. Researchers say tempo and energy levels may affect how drivers behave on the road.
You are sitting at a red light. The chorus hits, the bass kicks in, and suddenly the steering wheel becomes a drum kit. When the light turns green, the car surges forward a little faster than intended.
Scenes like this are common on everyday drives. Music helps pass the time in traffic, but research suggests it can also shape how people behave behind the wheel.
Fast rhythms and energetic songs may push drivers to accelerate, change lanes more often or become momentarily distracted.
The science Of tempo
Scientists have tried to understand exactly how music affects driving behaviour. A study by researchers from Deakin University and Swinburne University of Technology examined the issue using a driving simulator, analysing how different music tempos influence drivers’ behaviour and physiological responses.
Participants completed a 20-minute drive along a six-lane motorway while listening either to rock music, lighter music or no music at all.
One pattern stood out: Tempo made a clear difference. Drivers exposed to high-tempo tracks changed lanes around 140 times during the test, compared with roughly 70 lane changes when no music was playing.
Songs above 120 beats per minute were also linked to faster speeds. On average, drivers listening to quicker tracks travelled about five miles per hour faster than usual. Researchers suggested the heightened energy of faster music may increase excitement and reaction intensity.
High-energy songs
Certain tracks often come up in discussions about risky driving playlists. Finance company Moneybarn compiled a ranking of songs associated with unsafe driving habits.
Green Day’s American Idiot, known for its rapid tempo, topped the list. Other energetic songs frequently mentioned in media discussions include Miley Cyrus’s Party in the U.S.A., The Killers’ Mr Brightside and Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run.
Many share similar qualities: Powerful rhythms, loud guitars and catchy choruses that make drivers want to sing along or tap the wheel. Harmless most of the time, but enough to pull attention away from the road for a moment.
Even a quick distraction matters. A glance away from traffic or a few seconds spent drumming along to a chorus can slow reaction time.
A running joke in music media
The idea of “dangerous driving songs” has also become a familiar theme in music journalism. Complex, for example, once published a tongue-in-cheek feature highlighting tracks that might tempt drivers to speed, dance or lose focus while driving.
High-energy hip hop and rock songs often top those lists, largely because of how strongly people react to them.
Slower music tends to have the opposite effect. Smooth noted that Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven, which runs at about 63 beats per minute, was linked to steadier driving patterns during testing.
None of this means drivers need silence in the car. Still, the findings hint at something simple. The songs playing through the speakers may influence the drive more than many people realise.
Sources: Smooth, Complex, Shajari et al. (2025) Neural Computing and Applications study, Moneybarn.
