Study links major album release days with a rise in U.S. fatal traffic crashes

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: The release of a new album by Taylor Swift might be a cause for celebration among her fans, but such events have also been linked to a more sombre phenomenon: an increase in fatal car crashes. The team behind a new study say it sheds light on the impact of distracted driving. Writing in the journal Jama Network Open, [Vishal Patel, first author of the study based at Harvard Medical School] and colleagues report how they focused on the release of 10 major albums, launched between 2017 and 2022, selected for having the highest number of Spotify streams over a single day. [...] The team found streaming volume for the top 200 songs in the US was 43% higher on the date of major album releases compared with the days surrounding the releases -- although such data does not reveal whether the music was being streamed in a car. [...] The researchers used data from a population-based registry of fatal US motor vehicle crashes to look at the number of traffic fatalities on the dates these albums were released, as well as for the 10 days either side. After taking into account the day of the week upon which the album was released, as well as federal holidays, and time of year, the researchers found the number of US traffic fatalities showed a relative increase of 15.1% on the date of major album releases, compared with similar days either side. "This is equivalent to approximately 182 fatalities in the US attributable to the release days of the 10 included albums," the team writes. Patel said the release of a new album could distract drivers because accessing music is a search task, not a single button press. "You unlock the phone, open the app, find the release, read down a tracklist, tap the right song. That's several seconds of looking at a screen," he said, adding unfamiliar music also demands more attention, while research has suggested listening to new, high-energy music measurably degrades driving performance. The researchers add the rise in traffic fatalities was greater among certain groups -- such as younger drivers, male drivers, people who were driving alone, and people driving cars with a built-in infotainment platform. The authors say the results suggest that "online music streaming through smartphones may significantly contribute to distracted driving and traffic fatalities." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

There’s more than one reason to stay home the next time Beyoncé drops an album. Yes, you’ll want to hole up and listen to Act III—but you’ll also want to avoid being on the road, where traffic fatalities spike when major albums release, according to a new study. Researchers at Harvard Medical School found a link between the biggest album release days on Spotify and increased fatalities on the road. Their study, published this week in JAMA Network Open, found that fatal crashes were 15% more common on major album release days compared to the 10-day periods before and after. The life (and near death) of a showgirl Vishal Patel, the study’s lead author, was inspired to investigate the topic after his own music-motivated near miss on the road, Gizmodo reported. According to the outlet, Patel was driving when his girlfriend texted him about a new Taylor Swift album. He went on Spotify to find a song she’d recommended, but while scrolling through the music platform, he noticed he’d drifted out of his lane. While Patel was okay, he couldn’t help but wonder about people who weren’t so lucky while looking for new music. To test his theory, Patel and his team compared data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), which tracks all reported fatal crashes in the United States, with the top 10 biggest album release days on Spotify from 2017 to 2022. That included three albums by Taylor Swift and three by Drake, with Bad Bunny, Kendrick Lamar, Harry Styles, and Kanye West rounding out the list. After adjusting for risk factors, the researchers found a 15% increase in crashes on release days, which amounted to 182 total additional deaths compared to the surrounding 10-day periods. While correlation doesn’t equal causation, Patel explained in an interview with Gizmodo how his team ruled out other possible causes for the increased fatalities. “On causality, I’d put it this way: We can’t prove any individual driver was on a phone, and I wouldn’t claim otherwise,” he said. “What we can say is that the alternative explanations don’t hold up well.” “Most albums drop on Fridays, so we compared release Fridays to adjacent Fridays, and the increase persisted,” he continued. “We ran a thousand simulations using randomly assigned placebo dates, and our result was larger than chance in 98% to 99% of them. We checked the same calendar dates in years without a release and saw nothing.” How to stream and stay safe Of course, no one expects drivers to cruise in total silence. But the study suggests there are ways to engage in release-day hype without compromising road safety. Namely, letting someone else in the car control the music is an easy way to keep your focus on the road. “If someone’s in the passenger seat, hand it to them. That was the closest thing we found to a protective factor: the increase showed up almost entirely among drivers who were alone,” Patel told Gizmodo. Solo drivers can blast their tunes, too; they just might need to stick to playlists rather than switching songs while on the go. “If a song comes to mind mid-drive, it will still be there when you park,” Patel added. Patel also suggested that music platforms like Spotify and Apple Music could play a role in keeping drivers safe. “Streaming platforms know months ahead when a major album is dropping, and they already send push notifications to promote it,” he said. “Adding a line about setting up your music before you drive would cost essentially nothing.”