Study finds more US traffic deaths on major album release days

A Harvard Medical School study found that adjusted US traffic fatalities were about 15 percent higher on the release days of major music albums between 2017 and 2022, BR reported. The researchers linked the figures to a possible increase in smartphone music streaming and driver distraction, but said the study could not prove a direct causal connection.

The United States recorded 233,809 traffic deaths during the period studied. On major album release days, the adjusted average was about 139 deaths, compared with roughly 121 on the 10 days before and after those releases. Music streaming also increased by about 43 percent on release days.

The findings were published in the journal JAMA Network Open. Researchers compared data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, the US national traffic accident register, with Spotify streaming figures.

The study focused on the 10 albums released during the period that received the most streams in a single day. They included albums by Taylor Swift, Drake, Bad Bunny and Kendrick Lamar. Swift’s album Midnights, released on October 21, 2022, was streamed more than 184 million times on its first day.

The researchers stressed that they did not know whether the people involved in the crashes had listened to the albums. Other factors could also have contributed to the higher number of deaths. They said, however, that selecting an album on a smartphone or operating a car’s entertainment system while driving could plausibly cause distraction. Previous research has also found that listening to music itself can be distracting.

According to Germany’s Federal Statistical Office, driver distraction was the cause of more than 9,400 crashes involving personal injury in 2025. The figure includes smartphone use.

Traffic monitoring conducted by the ADAC in five major German cities, including Munich, found that 2.7 percent of vehicle drivers committed a mobile phone violation. In central Munich, the figure was 1.8 percent. Among cyclists, 1.4 percent nationwide and 1.2 percent in Munich were observed holding a smartphone or using one at their ear.