If you're singing in the car, and more than half of us do, you're likely to be belting out a hit from these guys: Journey.
We all do it, or at least we’ve caught someone else doing it. Sometimes its kind of a quiet, go-with-the-flow moment and other times, it’s a high-energy performance. It’s the most often performed action in a car: singing.
According to a study conducted by DMEautomotive, singing out loud was the top non-driving activity people do in the car — something at least 56% of motorists admit to engaging in while behind the wheel. Women are more likely to sing then men: 65% to 49% and people under 35 are more likely to rock out (61%) behind the wheel than those 35 and over, at 54%.
Perhaps just as important as the fact that people like to sing behind the wheel is what are they singing as they motor across America: while your own choice might be Johnny Cash — or perhaps even Mozart — a separate study from Insurance.com finds the favorite song for most motorists is that 1981 Journey power ballad, “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
A variety of studies have focused on the popularity — and dangers — of texting while driving. And the DMEautomotive study echoed those worrisome findings, with 26% of motorists admitting they read a text message while driving, with 20% saying they also are clicking away at the keyboard. Meanwhile, a full 50% acknowledged they’ll talk on the phone while driving.
Those findings underscore concerns about distracted driving and will likely lend support to lawmakers and regulators who want to crack down on such dangerous practices. But there are other things that can keep a motorist’s attention away from the road. For example, 50% also report eating while driving. So, perhaps, it’s not surprising that the study found 6% of men and 4% of women occasionally floss behind the wheel. Men are more likely to watch movies or television while behind the wheel — 10% compared to 3% of women.
But women are more likely to sing. Insurance.com recently surveyed 2,000 drivers and asked them to choose the best and worst songs for driving, as well as music that they secretly listen to in the car. Here’s the rest of the top five:
- “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen: 27%
- “You Shook Me All Night Long” by AC/DC: 22%
- “Any Way You Want It” by Journey: 22%
- “Life is a Highway” by Tom Cochrane: 21%
“Some people mock the Bay Area balladeers, but there’s no denying Journey has a fan base, given they took two of the top five spots for songs that people enjoy when driving,” said Michelle Megna, managing editor of Insurance.com.
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The least popular song? “Who Let the Dogs Out?” by the Baha Men nabbed 29% of the vote, followed closely by Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never, Ever Getting Back Together Again” with 25% and Cher’s “Believe” at 22%.
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What’s popular to sing or hear when tooling along is great, but everyone has guilty pleasures they listen to when no one is around. Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga were knotted up in the top three spots.
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“Strictly from data analysis we can surmise that the ideal driving songs would be duets with Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift singing old Journey favorites,” said Megna.
When guilty-pleasure listening is broken down by gender, tied for the top write-in response for women are gospel music and Eminem; for men, Adele and 2Pac were tied.
As anyone who has had their ears assaulted in a karaoke bar, being packed into a subcompact with a driver performing car-aoke can be a painful experience. But does it rank up there with cellphoning and texting?
“While singing may only present a danger to your fellow passengers’ ears, drivers really need to refrain from doing all these other distracting activities,” said Dr. Mary Sheridan, manager of research and analytics at DMEautomotive.