Changing your playlist can make you a safer driver, claims Allianz research

Neil Briscoe

Music has, it seems, the power to change more than just how we feel — it can change how we drive.

That’s according to Allianz Insurance, which has gone so far as to set up a special playlist on Spotify — called, in a rather lovely pun, Seat Belters — of songs that can have an active psychological effect and turn you into a gentler, safer driver.

Allianz’s efforts have been inspired by two major studies into the phenomenon of music altering your driving. A team at Brunel University in the UK found that: “It appears that under high-load conditions, particularly when a driver feels stressed or under the pressure of time, slow-tempo music is likely to engender an affective state that is most conducive to safety-relevant behaviour.”

Another study, carried out across several universities in China and Hong Kong, found that: “The results indicated that driving under the influence of rock music was correlated to higher arousal levels and perceived mental workload, and that of light music was marginally correlated to driving impairment.

“For driver personality, the performance of phlegmatic drivers was found to be less sensitive to music genre; however, that of choleric drivers was sensitive to music genre. Such findings are insightful for the development of comprehensive driver education, training, and management measures, especially for transport operators, that could mitigate the risk of driver distraction.”

Putting this research into action, Allianz found that: “Songs with a fast tempo (over 120 beats per minute) can subconsciously encourage drivers to speed up and change lanes much more often. In contrast, music that matches the average resting heart rate (around 60–80 BPM) is associated with calmer, more focused driving.”

Allianz Ireland’s survey of Irish drivers, carried out in April of this year, found that: “More than half of Irish adults believe that listening to music impacts how they drive. This belief is especially strong among younger adults (Gen Z), the group most likely to stream music while behind the wheel.”

While academics are all well and good, Allianz decided to bring in the music big guns — specifically legendary drummer Stuart Copeland, best known for his work with The Police (that’s the band with Sting, not the Garda…) aided by science content creator Big Manny. In a parked car, they use nothing but a dashboard and a drumbeat to demonstrate how changing tempo affects mindset, mood, and ultimately driving behaviour — making BPM instantly relatable and shareable. It’s a fun but powerful way to show how we respond to rhythm behind the wheel.

Mark Brennan, Chief Marketing Officer at Allianz Ireland, said: “This initiative is about promoting a better driving experience by influencing driver behaviour through music.

The music we listen to can significantly affect our mood and actions, so why not harness this to encourage better driving habits? We’re thrilled to work with Spotify on this groundbreaking international campaign, offering an experience tool that is not only practical and enjoyable but also personalised, with the potential to reduce road accidents.”

Allianz’s research follows on from work carried out by Kia, which seemed to show that picking the right music can have a measurable effect on the range of your electric car.

With the range of an EV being very closely tied in to how you drive it, picking the right sounds can make a significant difference to how far you can drive.The study indicates that playlists featuring ambient classical pieces and famous symphonic-form compositions from the likes of Beethoven can help drivers sustain battery power far better over other types of music genres and artists, including The Weeknd, Kanye West and Adele.

The study was overseen by Dr Duncan Williams, a lecturer at the University of Salford’s School of Science, Engineering and Environment. Dr Williams also co-founded WaveTrace, a psychoacoustic consultancy specialising in biometric tracking of human responses to sound and music stimuli.

This isn’t just lab-based predictions, either. Kia and Dr Williams conducted a proper field test, sending participants on a 30km test loop in a Kia EV6 electric car. Each participant was fitted with an Empatica E4, a medical-grade wearable device that records biometric measurements.

Dr Williams oversaw the analysis and data measurements from the Empatica E4, with the device focusing on infrared thermopile (shifts in skin temperature), electrodermal activity (fluctuating resistance of the skin that is altered by sweat), and blood volume pulse using a PPG optical sensor. Heartbeat and heart rate variability were also calculated.

“What we found from only two days of testing was that music really can have a dramatic influence on the real-world driving range of an electric vehicle,” said Dr Williams. “Different songs resulted in varying electrodermal activity and blood volume increase for each of the participants,” added Dr Williams. “This had a knock-on effect on driving style, and ultimately influenced the real-world driving range of the EV6.”

The research showed that the best music track of all was Beethoven’s Symphony No.9, which “creates a calm, focused and balanced environment for the driver, resulting in a driving style that is composed and level-headed.” All of which helps to preserve battery range, because if your driving is more gentle, you’re drawing down less power.

Beethoven was one of six pre-set tracks played through the car’s stereo for each participant, the others being Tycho’s ‘Awake’; Adele’s ‘Hello’; The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’; Anna Meredith’s ‘Nautilus’; and Kanye West’s ‘Fade’.

The study found that on average, the drivers used up 36km of indicated range to cover the actual 30km route. Beethoven was ascribed the lowest drain on energy during the test, with just 7.7 per cent of the indicated range being used up despite the Symphony accounting for 32 per cent of the total music runtime. By contrast, The Weekend’s ‘Blinding Lights’ was playing for just ten per cent of the runtime, but saw 23.6 per cent of the total drain on indicated range. Adele was the most balanced — ‘Hello’ took up 15.3 per cent of the playlist, and saw a drain on indicated range of 13.3 per cent.

Dr Williams’ conclusion? “In short: if you want to go further, listen to the likes of Beethoven and other relaxing classical music; if you’re not worried about range dropping a little more quickly, by all means put on some more high-tempo tracks.”