Abstract
Motorists face various difficulties while driving, such as exhaustion, anxiety, isolation, and frustration caused by other drivers. While medical remedies exist for specific challenges, most require a more comprehensive approach due to their uniqueness. Consequently, some studies propose music as a solution to the challenges of traveling.
Playing soft background music while driving can provide multiple benefits. It can improve concentration, allowing drivers to better notice and read road signs, as well as interact with passengers. In addition, listening to music can enhance memory, particularly for older adults who may struggle with driving-related conditions. Music can also lower high blood pressure and improve the driver’s well-being during travel. This paper focuses on the therapeutic effect of music and how it can enhance a driver’s mood, leading to a safer and more pleasant travel experience.
Introduction
Music is a proven therapy that minimizes physical and mental pain. The application of music therapy is ubiquitous across industries, such as hospitals, correctional facilities, and substance abuse programs. In all applications, music has positively affected patients and helped them manage pain and increase their quality. These benefits translate to road safety, as drivers who are in pain or discomfort may be distracted or unable to focus on the road, leading to accidents.
Indeed, music can improve a driver’s mood, reduce stress, counter fatigue, reduce blood pressure, and increase pain tolerance. Studies show that music and traveling are intertwined, as songs can determine whether or not travelers enjoy their journeys. The benefits of music while traveling, including reducing loneliness, managing mental and physical health, and improving driving safety, make it a valuable solution to travel challenges.
Challenges of Traveling and Music as a Solution
Inspiring Social Connectedness and Reducing Loneliness on the Road
Music can inspire social connectedness that lightens driver’s moods. Ren et al. (2023) write that long-distance divers can experience loneliness as they spend much time alone away from family and friends. Drivers may lack much-needed emotional support to navigate work-related stress. As a result, drivers can encounter accidents or negative confrontations with law enforcement officers. Listening to a diverse music collection may have a therapeutic effect as listeners learn exciting facts about other cultures (Varner, 2020).
For example, protest songs like Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” can stir a driver’s hope for a better future. Love songs can also remind long-distance drivers about their loved ones at home, while lullabies can evoke pleasant memories of their children. Truck drivers can once again feel a sense of belonging as long working hours can create a tiresome routine that feels unmanageable. Music also improves interpersonal skills while on the road as drivers encounter different kinds of people on their journeys. Hence, listening to music can create social connectedness and a sense of belonging for long-distance travelers such as truck drivers.
Alleviating Mental Illnesses
Music can minimize depression, which can cause road accidents when left unaddressed. Kovacevic et al. (2020) examined the psychological conditions of 155 road traffic accident (RTA) survivors to investigate the causes of road accidents. The authors found that 32.3 percent reported suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 17.4 percent reported depression symptoms, and about 5.8 percent suffered low anxiety rates (Kovacevic et al., 2020).
The study affirmed the role that mental complications play in increasing RTAs. Music is a known antidote to depression and anxiety as it minimizes the production of cortisol, the stress hormone (de Witte et al., 2022). Smooth songs such as jazz, rhythm and blues (RnB), and opera can reduce stress, minimizing anxiety and depression. By so doing, the drivers’ concentration soars, and they can focus on road signs and other road safety indicators. Moreover, music can decrease the dangers of driving through places that evoke grim memories. For example, some sights can remind drivers about natural occurrences that destroyed property or killed people, such as hurricanes or tornados. In this case, music can minimize drivers’ stress and enable safe travel.
Motivating Drivers
Additionally, music enhances the driver’s motivation to drive and engage with passengers. Gold et al. (2019) assert that enjoying good music engages functional reward system components, such as caudate, anterior cingulate, amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, and nucleus accumbens (NAc). As a result, listening to music can offer a sense of motivation that individuals develop after receiving concrete rewards like money or free meals. Motivation is essential for divers as they can obey rules better, understand other motorists, and engage with passengers.
Good music can inspire dialogue between the driver and passengers, especially if songs evoke similar memories or inspire social protest. For example, drivers and passengers who survived the civil rights movement of the 1960s can begin interacting after listening to anthems that fueled the movement. The motivation that drivers acquire also reduces harmful road incidents, helping promote road safety. When a driver’s mood is positive, passengers can assimilate the effect. Therefore, music offers drivers much-needed motivation to drive and engage with like-minded passengers.
Improving Memory
Listening to music while driving also improves memory, resulting in a rewarding traveling experience. Fernandez et al. (2019) explain that listening to positive music reactivates the brain’s area associated with emotion, speech, and memory. Memory is needed while driving, especially for modern cars that rely on vast amounts of data to function (Jung et al., 2018). Losing memory while driving can lead to accidents and older adults can get lost on the road. Travelers with a better memory can enjoy touring when they visit specific locations after years.
Drivers can remember small details such as road conditions in the past, landmark buildings, or encounters with other travelers. Listening to music can aid drivers in storing mental images of such roads and memorizing them during their next travel. This skill was helpful in the past when travelers needed cameras and other devices to document their journeys. Charley Pride’s “Roll on Mississippi” is an evocative song enabling drivers to develop mental images of the area while on tour. Hence, music can enhance memory and improve the traveling experience.
Reducing Distracted Driving
Distracted driving is a problem that music can solve. According to Letzter (2018), distracted driving is a public health issue as it claimed about 35,902 lives in 2015 in the United States alone. While the factors that contribute to reckless driving are known, solutions are sparse. Letzter (2018) asserts that hatred for one’s occupation causes drivers to embrace distractive behavior, such as using a cell phone while on the road. Many people hate their jobs, especially if they are overworked and underpaid under stressful conditions. Reckless driving provokes other motorists to overtake or intentionally crash into other vehicles for revenge.
Many victims fail to seek relevant care due to the stigma surrounding mental health complications and lack of adequate finances to manage their health issues. In this case, music can help motivate drivers to focus on the road, as melodies offer a good alternative to the hate that other drivers exhibit. However, the choice of music matters as positive results cannot be replicated when drivers resort to songs with violent and provocative messages. Therefore, music can aid motorists in avoiding distracted driving, which leads to thousands of deaths annually.
Managing Blood Pressure
Listening to music while on the road can reduce high blood pressure. Road traffic noise can be damaging to a driver’s mental well-being, especially in the case of increased exposure over time. Multiple studies link road traffic noise with hypertension development. Peking University in Beijing’s associate professor Jing Huang led a study that analyzed data from about 240,000 people aged between 40 and 69 (Harby, 2023).
The study took about eight years, and all participants lived near busy roads with loud traffic activity. Drivers encounter similar challenges as they are constantly navigating the dangers of excessive hooting and roaring engines. Music can minimize blood pressure and prevent drivers from causing road accidents or creating negative moods. Calming songs that evoke beautiful memories can reduce heart rate and cause blood to flow normally. As a result, even hypertension patients do not have to worry about their condition worsening while on tour. Thus, listening to music can prevent hypertension among drivers and passengers alike.
Reducing Fatigue
Music also reduces fatigue among drivers, a significant problem contributing to road accidents. Yao et al. (2019) liken fatigue to drunk driving as both lead to road crashes and claim the majority of lives lost in road accidents. Tired drivers suffer reduced attention, slower reaction times, and an inability to control vehicles. Drivers may also ignore road signs and exhibit aggressive behavior towards fellow motorists. Music bears a mediating effect as it lowers fatigue and maintains muscle endurance. This is because good music compels drivers to roll down windows, nod their heads, and show appreciation to other motorists.
A driver listening to Midnight Star’s “Midas Touch” is more likely to enliven their mood than a driver in a silent car on a busy road at night. Reduced fatigue leads to safe driving, and drivers can enjoy traveling better as they can make stops to take good pictures and make videos. Listening to music while traveling can be rewarding for traveling bloggers because fatigue impedes artists from making better, more engaging content. Hence, music reduces fatigue associated with road crashes.
Promoting Physical Endurance
Listening to music also promotes physical endurance among drivers. According to Terry et al. (2020), studies across gyms reveal that background music improves physical endurance as individuals can lift weights and extend exercise sessions while enjoying good music. Poor performance in the gym is common, as people can gather negative energy caused by competition and intimidation. However, music allows people to focus on the most crucial exercise task while ignoring all distractions. Similarly, music helps drivers to drive longer as they can endure the emotional implications of stressful driving (Fuentes et al., 2019).
By so doing, travelers can explore more regions, enjoying the natural beauty and truck drivers can meet daily targets without straining. Drivers should study various music genres to create playlists with uplifting music because not all songs can inspire endurance. For instance, fast-paced songs such as Techno music may boost speed or desire to overcome challenges. Thus, enjoying music while driving can promote physical endurance, resulting in a rewarding traveling experience.
Managing Physical Pain
Further, music can help drivers manage physical pain while traveling. According to the American Music Therapy Association, music therapy entails using music in rehab clinics, schools, nursing homes, outpatient clinics, and correctional facilities to meet the patients’ emotional, cognitive, medical, and physical needs (American Music Therapy Association, n.d). Music has helped manage different types of pain for patients in other settings, but applying this therapy to drivers is a new trial. Regardless, music therapy has a similar effect on drivers as it has on a patient in hospitals or inmates in correctional facilities (Bowen et al., 2020).
Driving is associated with many pains, especially for long-distance travelers. Uncomfortable sitting positions can inflict pain on various body parts, and mental pain is commonplace. Listening to music can enable drivers to ignore the pain as more focus is placed on the music and the road. As a result, drivers can engage in conversations that further enliven their mood. An elevated mood will distinguish a motivated driver from fatigued ones who never enjoy the traveling experience. Therefore, music therapy can help drivers manage physical pain while on long-distance travel.
Improving Reaction Time of Older Adults
Lastly, music can be a helpful tool for improving the driving skills of older adults. Older adults, especially retirees, are increasingly selling their homes to purchase recreational vehicles to tour countries. However, old age and declining cognitive function can hinder driving abilities. Paire-Ficout et al. (2021) posit that age advancement can minimize motor, perceptive, sensory, and cognitive abilities needed for safe driving. However, music can mediate the effects of aging on driving in older adults.
For instance, a study conducted by Chakrabarty et al. (2020) found that in elderly people, listening to music while driving decreases reaction time. This means drivers can respond faster to emergencies while listening to music, especially jazz music (Chakrabarty et al., 2020). Researchers also found that music increases correct reactions on time, which is the ability to react quickly and accurately to a given situation (Chakrabarty et al., 2020). Therefore, incorporating music into driving practice can be an effective strategy to help older adults maintain their driving skills and safety on the road while touring countries in recreational vehicles.
Conclusion
Music therapy can guarantee a better traveling experience due to its therapeutic effect on drivers’ moods. Smooth songs can improve mood and minimize depression and anxiety symptoms more than some of the prescribed medications for these ailments. Many studies cite psychological issues as a cause of road crashes; hence, music can eliminate signs that may cause accidents.
Moreover, music increases much-needed motivation, allowing drivers to exhibit better physical performance and concentration. Distracted drivers cause thousands of deaths annually, and thus, integrating music therapy into driving sessions can minimize belligerence towards fellow motorists.
Also, music therapy reduces high blood pressure, as studies indicate. Road traffic noise can increase heart rate and blood pressure, but music can lower the rates. Further, music enhances memory and improves the drivers’ interpersonal skills while on the road. Therefore, music can improve a driver’s mood and create a more memorable traveling experience.
References
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