Most Dangerous Radio Stations
Studies have shown that music with a BPM greater than 120 can result in faster driving speeds and more traffic violations [1] and songs with high-energy can also impact driving safety [2] .
Based on this information, we have investigated which radio stations are the most dangerous to listen to using a random selection of the songs they choose to play. The results might surprise you!
(No. of "dangerous" songs)
The stereotypically “rock” based stations take 2 of the top 3 spots, with high tempo and energy being a
staple of rock music.
But it’s Heart that is perhaps the most surprising result, cruising in to joint second spot!
Classic FM is the safest station, with 80% of songs being below the threshold for energy and tempo.
Highway To Hell – The Most Dangerous Road Trip Classics
So, are you safer by putting on a tried and tested road trip classic? What better way to hit the open road, right? Not so fast…
Using Spotify’s API and the Playlist Miner we found what the most common songs included in “road trip” playlists were. Once we had these we analysed the tracks to see how many of these classics would be considered safe to drive to.
Click a point on the chart for song information
Less than 1/3 of songs that made into our list were deemed safe to drive to, that is having an energy score
less than 0.8 and an RPM of less than 120.
That means a whopping 71% of the most popular driving songs may have a negative influence on driving!
The most dangerous song in the list is American Idiot by Green Day, combining a very fast tempo with an
energy score that tops the scale.
What Makes a Classic Road Trip Song?
How do you record a song that will be playing on the roads for years to come? We've looked at the most common factors within the top 10 and top 100 to act as a road-map (pun intended) for a road trip classic!
What Makes a
TOP 10
Road Trip Song?
Genre Album Rock
Tone E
Energy 0.62
Tempo 121
Duration 251s
Era 1970s
What Makes a
TOP 100
Road Trip Song?
Most Popular Road Trip Artists
The most popular artists in our top 100
AC/DC
Ed Sheeran
Post Malone
The Chainsmokers
With 4 songs in the top 100 each, the competition for most popular road trip artist was tight, however, AC/DC claim the crown with most people opting to blare out Highway To Hell on the highway to wherever they’re heading.
Volume & Driving
Turn it down! It’s not just the tempo and energy of music that can influence driving. Loud volumes have been found to decrease reaction and vehicle movement times and increase both heart rate and simulated driving speeds! [3]
53db
90db
0.303
Reaction Time
77.4
Heart Rate