Does music affect performance on a hazard perception test for cyclists?

ABSTRACT

Whereas it has been shown that listening to music impairs the detection of auditory and visual signals, it is unclear to what extent music affects a cyclist's ability to detect and interpret hazardous traffic situations. In the current experiment, thirty-seven participants carried out a hazard perception test for cyclists. Participants were divided into three groups control, passive, or active. The control group did the test without hearing music. The passive and active group did hear music, yet the passive group was asked to ignore the music, while the active group was asked to pay attention to the lyrics. Results showed no differences in reaction rate, reaction time, or gaze behaviour between any of the groups. These findings temper the existing safety concerns about the negative effect of music on traffic safety. Nevertheless, music might still have consequences under certain conditions or in certain risk-groups such as children. Practitioner summary: It is unclear how music affects traffic safety. The current experiment tested to what extent hazard perception was affected by listening actively or passively to music. Under the current experimental conditions, listening to music was found to have no effect on hazard perception. Abbreviation NHTSA national highway traffic safety administration; AOI area of interest; TTFS time to first saccade; FFD first fixation duration.