Listen to our new calming playlist that can help to soothe your road rage

Road rage is a phrase we’ve all heard of, but how commonplace is it to ‘see red’ when behind the wheel? We wanted to find out, so we commissioned a survey of 2,000 UK drivers on their driving habits.

The data suggests that millions of Britons experience road rage every single time they get behind the wheel, and an angry driver can cause accidents, so we’re looking to the soothing power of music to help.

How many of us experience road rage?

Our first job was to establish how common it is for drivers in the UK to experience road rage. The answer was – pretty common!

We found that one in ten people (10%) experience road rage every single time they head out on the roads, suggesting that getting frustrated is a big problem for many drivers.

Though most people don’t get road rage every time they drive, the majority of us do experience road rage on a regular basis. Around two-thirds of the drivers we spoke to (65%) said that they experience road rage at least once a month. Applying that percentage to all the full driving licence holders in the UK, it would suggest that over 27 million people in the country experience road rage once a month or more often.

Widespread road rage is a problem as according to police driving experts, as it can lead to the type of aggressive driving that causes the most serious accidents.

What gives UK drivers road rage?

We asked our survey participants what kinds of things were causing them to feel angry when driving, to see if we could identify the most common causes of road rage.

By a comfortable distance, UK drivers find that other drivers tailgating them (49%) is the most likely trait to cause road rage.

The speed of other drivers can be another trigger. Both excessively fast drivers (31%) and slow drivers (30%) can bring on feelings of anger while behind the wheel.

Which city is the UK’s road rage capital?

The fact that roughly two-thirds of drivers in the UK (65%) experience road rage at least once a month is surprising enough, but some cities have an even higher rate of road rage than this.
Nottingham emerged as the ‘road rage capital’ of the UK, with almost three-quarters of drivers (72%) in the East Midlands city saying that they experience road rage once a month or more.

Drivers in London (68%) are angrier than the UK average, with motorists in Newcastle (71%) and Manchester (70%) also showing up as particularly angry!

The UK’s calmest cities

We can all learn a thing or two from drivers in Liverpool, as over half of motorists in the Merseyside city (55%) ‘rarely or never’ get road rage.

A similarly healthy rate of drivers avoid feelings of road rage in Norwich (43%), Cardiff (42%) and Edinburgh (41%).

How will a playlist help?

To help to explain why a well-crafted playlist can help to cure road rage, we spoke to Dennis Relojo-Howell, managing director of the psychology website Psychreg and doctoral researcher in clinical psychology at the University of Edinburgh.

Relojo-Howell explained to us that music as close as possible to 60 beats per minute (BPM) can help to keep our stress and anxiety at a minimum while driving.

He said: “Music as close as possible to 60 BPM can have a calming effect on the body, reducing heart rate and muscle tension.

“Some examples of music at 60 BPM include classical music, ambient music, and certain types of electronic music. Listening to music can also be a distraction from negative thoughts and emotions, helping drivers to stay calm and focused on the road.”

Try out our new soothing playlist while driving

There you have it then – our soothing playlist could be the cure to the UK’s road rage problem!

We have carefully curated a playlist of well-known tunes that are great to listen to, each with a BPM as close as possible to 60 BPM. Every single song has 100 BPM or less. For context, the average chart song has well over 100 BPM.

Low-BPM music doesn’t have to be boring though, as our playlist is packed with big names such as Beyonce, Ed Sheeran, and Adele!

Check out the playlist here:

We have also created Christmas version, as 20 million drivers tackled the roads last year to get home to see friends and family, it is important drivers stay calm whilst getting themselves in the Christmas spirit.

Here are some of our favourite Christmas songs with 100 BPM or below, to ensure you have stay relaxed throughout your drive home for Christmas:

What effect can road rage have on your physical and mental health?

We have already established that road rage can lead to dangerous driving, but Relojo-Howell explains that repeated episodes of road rage can also cause damage to our bodies and our mental health.

He said: “The stress of driving can have several adverse effects on the body, including increased blood pressure, heart rate, and muscle tension. When the body is in a state of stress, it releases hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, which can cause a range of health problems over time. Prolonged exposure to stress can lead to chronic conditions such as hypertension, heart disease, and even depression.

“To resist the urge to get angry behind the wheel, it’s important to practise self-control and mindfulness. Drivers can do this by taking deep breaths, counting to ten, and reminding themselves that they are in control of their emotions. Another effective strategy is to avoid confrontations with other drivers and focus on the road ahead. It can also help to plan ahead, avoid rush hour traffic, and leave plenty of time to reach your destination.”

Our Conclusions

We’ve established that road rage is bad news. Whether making accidents more likely by causing aggressive driving, or by having a negative effect on your personal health, taking steps to limit the chances of experiencing anger behind the wheel is something to take seriously.

With this in mind, fleet owners should make their employees aware of the dangers of road rage. Do get in touch with us for any fleet insurance enquiries.