Apparently, if you want to be better behind the wheel, you should drive with some hip-hop music blasting while drinking a huge cup of coffee.
Or at least, that is what a new study says.
According to the New York Post, a study found a link between listening to rap music and having strong coffee with better driving skills.
UK-based behavioral science consultancy CX Lab and car insurance company U Switch collaborated on the experiment, and their research shows people who drank coffee stopped an average of 26 yards earlier when they spotted something on the road than people who didn't drink coffee.
Meanwhile, the researchers also put different types of audio tracks to the test, using the sounds of noisy children as well as rap, techno, heavy metal, classical, jazz and R&B music. Hip Hop was found to have the biggest positive impact as people who listened to rap stopped 16 yards earlier than those who weren't listening to any music.
R&B, on the other hand, had the biggest result in slowing response times.
“Our participants all watched a number of clips taken from the official DVSA Hazard Perception Test, where they had to click a button upon spotting a hazard,” reads a report about the experiment and its findings on U Switch’s website. “After establishing their baseline reaction time, we had the participants complete the test again, but this time introduced one of the following factors.”
Overall, women were found to have better reaction times than men – responding on average 690 milliseconds faster.
And finally, it’s worth noting that these tests were not carried out in an actual vehicle.
