Choice Blog

Music causes car crashes?

Results of surveys arrive in my email inbox all the time. They normally are a tale of the blindingly obvious- something that anyone with a spot of common sense could have surmised without the wast of time and effort.

Most are carried out to create publicity for a product or company, so fair enough. Some make me smile, as did the latest one to appear out of the ether.

This one finds that if you listen to music in your car you are at a higher risk of having an accident if it is a fast beat number which, apparently, 45 percent of chart records are. It distracts your concentration away from driving and causes you to increase your road speed subconsciously to match the beat.

The answer could be to switch to Classic FM or talking books, although that doesn't remove the risk entirely. From my own personal research, the drivers who routinely listen to top 40 music tend to play it so loud I can hear it in my car over the top of what I am enjoying.

My speed may increase then as I try to get away from it.

The cover price of Choice had gone up this month. We have managed to hold it down for seven years since the last increase in January 2011. Since then paper, printing and postage costs have risen which we have managed to absorb until now. We will hold the new price as long as possible.

If you but your copy at a newsagent you can beat the increase by taking out a subscription now, as the cost always offers a saving on the cover price.

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