How Music Affects Drivers:

My reaction to Mr. Sasabe's e-mail post:

    Mr. Sasabe views music as a distraction more than a motivation in driving.  He finds that when his "type" of music is played all control is lost.  This, as we can well predict, is a very dangerous situation while driving.  In Mr. Sasabe's case, music to him is comparable to cell phones to some drivers, for example, or something like a crying child in a car seat to a driving mother.  I believe that Mr. Sasabe's problem is not the music, but his low ability to filter out stimuli which may hinder his driving.  I agree with his suggestion to stop listening to music in the car, but this may only apply to him and those who have a low degree of filtering out distractions.  As you will see later, some believe that music actually calms them down while driving.

My reaction to Mr. Miyoshi's e-mail post:

    Mr. Miyoshi briefly touched on how the type of music drivers listen to may influence their driving style, but unfortunately didn't carry on with that.  However, a great point which he brought up was how emotions, felt from the topics mentioned over the radio, may be projected towards our behavior and driving style on the road.  Those who listen to the news or commentaries on the radio while driving may feel strongly towards the issues discussed, and if conflict arises about that topic, some drivers may experience emotional ups and downs.  When this happens, the driver may act more aggressively towards others, possibly blaming them for the heated debate, or one may be so caught up in the commentary that he/she may not notice that he/she may be tailgating the car in front of him/her.
    I believe that this is a matter of self control and self regulation.  One needs to discriminate between their emotions caused by a debate and the behaviors exhibited on the roads.  They must self regulate themselves to either not be swayed by heavy debate, possibly further facilitating aggressive driving, or they must control themselves in terms of expressing their anger to other innocent drivers.

My reaction to Mr. Shintani's e-mail post:

    Mr. Shintani mentions about how the type of music being played while driving can and will determine how aggressive the driver will be.  He notes that classical music compared to heavy metal music will influence the mood, attitude, and affect of a driver.  He supports it using evidence of malls using calm music, such as some type of classical music, to calm and relax its shoppers.  Applying this to driving, we can see that calming music may calm the driver, allow the driver to release some tension, therefore being a less aggressive driver, and change the driver's mood in terms of how he/she feels about him/herself and others on the road.
    I feel that the type of music can influence one's driving behaviors, but once again I do have to bring up the notion of self control.  Some drivers may enjoy listening to heavy metal music and, though it may sound strange, this kind of music may relax that kind of driver.  I believe that it's not the type of music a driver listens to, but it is how the driver reacts to the music and how they can control themselves, in terms of not projecting the aggressive beat to their driving behaviors.

My reaction to Brian Haimerman's e-mail post:

    Brian again brings up the point about how the type of music can affect a driver's mood and affect on the road.  He claims that music with hard and driving beats tend to affect our psycho-physical and from this, we can see that the effects on driving can be detrimental.  Brian also brought in another factor in all of this which is the age of the driver.  From what it seems to me, Brian claims that young people, who are able to deal with the "loud beating music," can adjust to the faster heart beats and higher blood pressures while older people may not be as tolerant.  Applying this to driving, I feel that younger drivers have a higher threshold for the kinds of music they listen to while they drive.  This higher threshold allows them to adjust their style of driving to the type of music they are listening to.  Older drivers may be less tolerant of the hard beats of some heavy metal music therefore they limit themselves to the types of music they are allowed to listen to while driving.  Again, it all comes down to self control and self regulation.

My response to Kristin Evert's e-mail post:

    Kristin's posting reflects the opposite side of all the previous postings.  According to Kristin, she finds herself to be the one who gets passed on the freeway and who usually follows the speed limit while listening to music which is, "usually fast-paced and 'singable'."  She goes even further by admitting that a slower paced and relaxful type of music may actually relax her awareness too much, which, in turn, may also be a hazard while driving.  This brings up the point of where is exactly the proper point between being too relaxed and being to irritated?  Relaxing music may relax a driver to the point where he/she may be less and less aware of the driving environment to the point that it is dangerous, while exhilarating music may change the affect of the driver to be too aggressive and over aware to the point that he/she may start weaving in and out of the lanes.  I do believe that there is a medium between those 2 which we all need to be at while driving with music.

My response to Mary Ford's e-mail post:

    What we see here with Mary's posting is something that all of us can take into account.  She has claimed that she become an aggressive driver over the years.  She does attribute this to age, but we know that there are many contributing factors which take part in making us to be aggressive drivers.  To combat these aggressive tendencies such as swearing and verbally speaking her mind while driving, she tends to use soothing music to mellow her aggressive tendencies.  Being that this posting was a complete opposite of Kristin Evert's posting above, we have to realize again that different types of music work for different drivers.
    When I view my driving career, I know that there were points in it where I was influenced by the type of music and also the volume of the music as well.  Now I do find myself listening to a variety of music, but as I mentioned about self regulation and self control, we all have to know where our medium of music is, and when we do, that is when we can explore what different kinds of music can do for us.

My response to Tami Hashimoto's e-mail post:

    Tami basically takes the same position as Mary Ford, but one thing which I did notice was that she applied some of her calmness to other drivers as well.  She noted that as she listens to the type of music which makes her less anxious and frustrated, she becomes more tolerant of unsafe drivers by letting them pass her.  This is a giant leap in music and driving because when we think about music and how it affects our driving, we view it in terms on how it affects only us and our behaviors while driving.  Tami uses her low anxiousness, gained from the calming music, and applies it to the reckless drivers, therefore making the roads safer.
    I believe that this was a big step for her and I hope that applying this to my driving style, it will be a big step for me also.

My response to Cris Burlem's e-mail post:

    Cris has an ultimate solution for all of this music and driving madness which is simply turning off the radio.  By doing this he eliminates the distractions, emotions, and affects music can cause while driving.  Sometimes drivers may have some type of internal music which may calm them down or it could be that the presence of just the normal road sounds is their medium in dealing with driving and traffic.  Once again I bring up the point of the threshold of the driver in terms of music, the stimuli around them, and their emotions that change as a result of these.  Driver such as Cris have a very low threshold for these stimuli and need the possible silence to concentrate on the road to become the best driver possible.
    I've known a few people who don't want any in-car distractions while driving.  Some even go to the point where a passenger of the car may not even speak to others or the driver.  I respect this though as, like I said above, some people have lower thresholds for distracting stimuli.  The may develop a higher threshold over time, if they allow it, and people usually do, but as passengers, we must respect the wishes of the driver.

My response to Wilfred Lee's e-mail post:

    Wilfred basically wraps up all point which have been discussed in the other e-mail postings.  He discusses how classical music may be the relaxful solution to all of our driving music needs.  What was interesting though is that he had a theory for his friend dealing with the music he listens to.  What was different is that he didn't necessarily make a tape of classical songs, but a tape of song in which his friend enjoyed.  When we take this into context, we have to remember that different music affects different people in different ways. 

My personal recount of music in my life and driving career:

    Throughout my life, I have found that I have enjoyed the music of the pop culture.  As time went on my music interests changed with the times to reflect the diversity that music itself causes.  When I brought that type of music into the driving realm, I found that music didn't play a large role in terms of my performance as a driver, but it did on my emotions.  My self control and self regulation allowed myself to discriminate between the emotions felt and my performance on the road.  I consider myself lucky in terms of separating the two so I can perform my driving skills well while listening to music.  I also agree with many of the e-mail posts which I reviewed.  Slow, relaxing music does tend to relax the driver down, but as was mentioned before, different music can have the same effect as classical music on others.  It's basically a matter preference and how the driver can apply that music to its affect.

Re: Music to Studebaker by....
Author: BondoBill1
Email: bondobill1@aol.com
Date: 1998/10/30
Forums: alt.autos.studebaker

>Can any of the Good Ol' Boys here tell me about any music to Studebaker by....

For me, on Sunday night when I am working on a car in the garage, there is a station in NYC WCBS-FM, they play oldies 24/7, When I am driving any of the cars, forget it, you can't hear &*%#$ , not from the Stude, but because them new fangled radial tires on modern cars at 55/70mph on NY roads are so loud they drown out any sound.
 

My commentary:

    I chose this posting because this is a great example of how music and driving can happen anywhere.  The topic of the thread was driving music and it was interesting to see how in a newsgroup on Studebakers, music played a role in how they enjoyed their cars.  Another interesting point is that this particular person used music to drown out the distracting sounds of the road.  An oldies station is what this driver enjoys and he wasn't going to let any distracting road sounds affect his affect!
 
 

A drivers choice
Author: Leif N
Email: leif.nordland@c2i.net
Date: 1998/10/28
Forums: alt.music.mariah.carey

Today I listened a little to her Emotions Album, just to refresh old memories, and I realized as I often have before, how some of the songs on this album just fit so good when you're driving - "on the road" music:

The best is, to my taste :  To be around you    - A happy song, kind of "uplifting" in a way n' a good chorus/background vocals: Deborah Cooper & Cindy Michelle does fit in very well.

Second : You're So Cold - "Nasty" keyboard/beat thanx to Cole & Clivillés.

Third : Emotions - Great to listen to w driving as well.

Lastly, what do y'all think ab cut 4 from 3:53 to 4:32, and especially 4:05-4:17, vocal performance, I mean ?
 

My commentary:

    I really found the idea of calling driving music, "on the road" music.  It was intriguing because there are types of music where it is simply better while listened to on the road.  I'm not familiar with the songs she mentioned, but I am with the artists and what it seems is that the author enjoys music which makes him/her feel happy as well as put her in a beat of driving.  This combination is great because not only is the driver relaxed, but they are also put into a mode of driving where everything seems automatic.
 

    Mark Harlow's Music Page lists some of his music preferences while taking a drive to San Francisco.  One can use this page to examine ones choice in music and how it may affect his driving.  I am not familiar with the artists in which he listed, but if any of you are, feel free to e-mail me with your projections on how these music selections may influence Mark Harlow's driving.
 

Tami Hattori, Holly Ishikawa, Irene Lau, Grace Lumabao, Robert Nakagawa, Czarina Naranjo, Albert Ne III, and Ryan Shintani, all of generation 8, did a similar report as this one so you can view their reports by clicking their names, and compare and contrast their viewpoints in accordance to mines.  Through many of their reports you will find varied responses as well as comments and conclusions.  Please browse them and e-mail me with your thoughts on their views in contrast with mines. 

As Rothe hasn't really covered explicitly the topic of music and driving, I will have to predict what things he may have to say on the subject.  Rothe seems to take a global and overall view of driving, so in terms of music and driving, I assume that he would also view this globally.  We have to understand that music is a normal part of everyone's lives and music mixed with driving has a very long past.  Rothe may think that although music may be a related fixture with driving, many people may have to get used to it and learn how to combine driving with music.  A very similar problem which we have now is the mix of cellular phones and driving.  This causes a large problem as the driver loses their sense of concentration, further escalating their risk of getting into an accident.  In terms of this, Rothe would probably believe that intervention may help the problem but, with something as global as music, will not be the only solution.  Time and time again we have to remind ourselves what exactly is compromising our safety on the road, and sometimes the item at stake is so common and taken for granted that it is simply overlooked.
 

There weren't many resources in ERIC that concerned music and driving, but I will look over the other generational reports to see what articles they have come up with.  If you happen to have any article which would be appropriate to post here, please e-mail them to me.  As for now, please refer to Dawn Stone-Webb's section of links found in ERIC, but as she states, many of them don't deal with just music and driving exclusively.
 

Dawn Stone-Webb has taken up the same report as mines and she has some very interesting thoughts on music and driving.  One thing which I like what she pointed out was how the type of music had some effect on the type of affect that she felt at that time.  Her listening to Hawaiian music seems to calm her down, but she states that there is some music which gets her "engine revving" which gets her ready for the road and prepared to be an astute driver.  Please read her report as she offers very diverse and thought filled comments.
 

In conclusion, future generations can view my report and incorporate the ideas and knowledge gained from reading this report into their own repertoire of everyday driving.  Using this report to discover where one's threshold is may be another use because we all are different in terms of what types of music may calm us and what types of music my raise the level of aggression in us.  Throughout this report I have taken the stand that the main idea behind music and driving combined is self control and self regulation.  When a driver knows his/her bounds in terms of those two items, then that driver can experiment what music is appropriate for driving and which aren't.
    For future generations to further this report, they may try to bring their own personal experiences with music and driving and come up with a theory on why music does have an emotional impact on our driving.  Future generations may also improve on finding more journal articles in reference to driving and music combined.  I haven't managed to find any significant articles that explicitly discussed music and driving, so that could be a task for generations to come.
    Overall, this is a very intriguing and interesting topic because it applies to almost every driver out there.  We need some evidence in this field and we need to further research to find out what are the best types of music for the certain type of driver.  This would all lead to a more harmonious and free flowing driving experience.