It's one of the most unusual factors ever cited in road safety: A new study suggests the days that big albums come out are particularly dangerous for drivers. A Harvard Medical School team found that on days when blockbuster albums from stars like Taylor Swift, Drake, and Bad Bunny debuted, US traffic deaths rose nearly 15% compared to surrounding days, reports the New York Times. Using national crash records from 2017 to 2022 and Spotify streaming data, they linked big release days to an extra 18 deaths per day, or about 182 additional fatalities tied to the 10 biggest albums.
Lead researcher Vival Patel says the idea for the study arose when his wife texted him to recommend a newly released song, per a Harvard release. He was driving at the time and realized that his car was drifting out of his lane before he recovered. "It hit me that a split second longer with my eyes off the road could have meant a serious accident," he said. "Then I thought, if millions of people are doing the same thing at the same time—on the day a big album drops—the cumulative risk on the road must be enormous."
In the study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Patel and his team say the likely culprit is how people access the new music: unlocking phones, scrolling through track lists, tapping on specific songs, etc. The effect was strongest in solo drivers and among sober motorists, suggesting distraction, not alcohol, was driving the spike. Clear weather didn't help, possibly because people were more willing to use their phones when roads felt safer. The authors say tech companies and carmakers could blunt the impact with safety nudges timed to big drops.
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