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Only listen to music under 120bpm, motorists warned

The speed of music can impact your driving, a study has found

Listening to music higher than 120bpm can cause erratic driving, a study has found.

At the South China University of Technology, researchers used a driving simulator to subject participants to 20 minutes of six-lane motorway driving, while playing music at varying speeds of bpm.

The results, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, showed that those listening to songs over 120bpm increased their speed to around 5mph above average. Those listening to higher tempo music also changed lanes almost twice as much as those listening to slower music, increasing from 70 to almost 140 lane switches. 

Among the most dangerous songs found to listen to while driving were The Chainsmoker's 'Don't Let Me Down', with the safest including 'God's Plan' by Drake and 'Africa' by Toto.

In 2017, Aphex Twin's 'Windowlicker' was used in advert by the UK government's road safety department.