Survey Finds Music Adds to Distracted Driving

According to a new survey by UK insurer Allianz Your Cover finds 54 percent of UK motorists want volume controls enforced on in-car music to control driver distraction.

The average driver listens to seven hours of in-car music a week, equating to 13 billion hours of noise pollution on UK roads every year, the insurer found. New research from Allianz Your Cover Insurance reveals that two thirds of drivers get annoyed by other drivers playing loud music.

“Our research found that one in ten car drivers admit that listening to music has caused them to have or nearly have a car accident. This rises to nearly one in three amongst 18-24 year-old drivers who have been side-tracked by music. Singing along to music whilst driving can be fun, but as the motorists we polled admitted, listening to music in the car can be a distraction. We want to make sure drivers put their safety needs first,” said Natalie Woods of Allianz Your Cover Insurance.

Jazz and blues fans are the most easily diverted on the roads with 25 percent of them reportedly involved in music-related accidents. Classical music fans are the most cautious drivers with only 6 percent having veered off course by listening to music.

Drivers play music for an average of 72 percent of the time they are in the car and over a quarter admit to listening to music every time they are in the car.

Men are more likely to be entranced by their music as nearly a quarter of men have had or nearly had an accident due to listening to music, whereas this has only happened to 12 percent of women.

Source: Allianz Your Cover