Doctor Secrets! My Real Life…

We often hear “alcohol was a factor” when talking about motor vehicle accidents. But you never hear “music was a factor”. But nearly everytime I see somebody screeching off their tires, zig-zagging through traffic, or speeding like their car’s invisible,  I invariably also feel their bass shaking my windows. Do you?

I think the role of music in traffic accidents is sorely understated.

Three years ago I smashed my car into a pole after cranking Rammstein and slamming the gas ’round a corner. Freaking brilliant. Then there was the torn off side view mirror listening to the Yin Yang Twins and suddenly decided to make a single lane into a double. In fact everytime I’ve had a near miss that I can think of driving, I’ve been slugging down some Rap or Rock. Racy tunes lead to a thready pulse, loosening of the mind, and outright racing.

But I did an experiment. Is it the music? Or is it the volume? My conclusion is that two things have to be in place to create that euphoria to drive wild – the right tune, and thunderous volume. If you just tone down the volume, that maddening song stops yelling and you can drive most righteously with the whisper from the back woofer.

Today my music taste has evolved, ahem gotten older, so my driving’s pretty tame currently. But I can’t help looking out my window and seeing the new pimped out drivers making  old mistakes.

My message: Be careful if you iPod and Drive!