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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Nicola Davis Science correspondent

Top album releases linked to rise in fatal crashes as ‘distracted’ drivers access music

A woman driving a car while using her phone.
The lead author of the study urged drivers to finish fiddling with their phones before they start moving. Photograph: Charday Penn/Getty Images/iStockphoto

The release of a new album by Taylor Swift might be a cause for celebration among her fans, but such events have also been linked to a more sombre phenomenon: an increase in fatal car crashes.

The team behind a new study say it sheds light on the impact of distracted driving. “You can’t randomise people into using their phones, and drivers rarely volunteer what they were doing in the seconds before a crash,” said Dr Vishal Patel, first author of the study based at Harvard Medical School.

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