Number of fatal car crashes increases by 15% on days of highly anticipated album releases in the United States

When you listen to the latest hit that has just been released on the platforms in your car, be even more vigilant while driving. According to a study carried out by the American National Bureau of Economic Research, a private organization specializing in the study of the economy, the number of fatal road accidents increases by 15% when a particularly anticipated album or title is released on the platforms, reports the Smithsonian Magazine.

Although no link can be scientifically confirmed between listening to anticipated titles and the occurrence of road accidents, the figures highlight a systemic increase in the latter during album release days watched by fans or the general public.

Listening times jump by 40% on release days

The co-author of the study, Vishal Patel, had the idea to investigate this subject after having himself deviated from his driving trajectory by listening to a new song. “I realized that a fraction of a second more without looking at the road could have resulted in a serious accident,” explains the clinical researcher at Harvard Medical School.

To determine whether this was a general trend, he and his colleagues listed the ten albums that recorded the highest number of plays on Spotify in a single day between 2017 and 2022. Among them: the latest opuses by Taylor Swift, Drake, Bad Bunny and even Harry Styles, which had between 80 and 185 million plays on the day of their release. Taylor Swift has since far exceeded these figures with 313 million streams for her latest album in 2024.

The team found that on the release days of these ten albums, streams on Spotify averaged 123.3 million, compared to an average of 86.1 million streams in the ten days before and after these major releases, an increase of 40%.

A 15% increase in road deaths, without any other aggravating factor

Once these dates were identified, the researchers looked at the number of road accidents at the same time. Based on data from the US Federal Fatal Accident Registry, they averaged 139.1 deaths on highly anticipated album release days, compared to 120.9 deaths on dates before and after, a 15% increase in fatalities. Weightings on the figure were carried out according to the proximity or concordance of public holidays.

By analyzing the details of each of the accidents, the study establishes that the fatal accidents occurring during these days of musical outings occurred most of the time without weather disturbances, while the drivers were young, negative to alcohol and narcotics, and alone in their vehicle.

“Smartphones have broadened the range of possible activities while driving”

These results provide “fairly strong preliminary evidence” that the use of music streaming applications may increase the risk of accidents, Johnathon Ehsani, a traffic safety researcher at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told the New York Times.

“People convince themselves that they can do several things at once while driving: schedule calls, eat, put on makeup,” said Vishal Patel. “Smartphones have dramatically expanded the range of activities possible while driving, and as cars become more connected, the temptation to distract oneself will only increase. »