Smartphone use is a well-known road-safety issue, but it’s usually assumed that texting and taking calls while driving are the biggest contributors.
But a new study published in the journal JAMA Network Open claims there’s another potential source of phone-based distraction: streaming music.
Specifically, the study looked at rates of traffic fatalities on the days of major album releases. The authors charted an increase in the adjusted number of fatalities on the days when hot albums dropped, which tend to be the days when people stream music from their phones more than usual. Fatalities increased by 15.1% compared to the 10 days before and after the album drops, while streaming increased by approximately 43% on those release dates.