Music and Urban Health: Listening and Driving to Music in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates how music affects urban health and liveability among drivers in Lagos city. According to historical documentations of the automotive industry, driving and music listening have remained subjects of discourses for decades. However, in-depth research on the influences of music listening on the mood and behaviour of drivers in a city like Lagos is limited. This study fills this gap by unveiling the effects of music listening on mood and behaviour while driving, the response of drivers to music while driving, and how music listening contributes to road safety, and urban health in relation to coping with stress. Using a semi-structured questionnaire, we carried out a survey of drivers of both public and private vehicles. Findings show that listening to music while driving affects drivers from two points of view: arousal and distraction. Respondents report that music listening serves as a companion while driving on a long-distance journey, and it also minimise attention to daily worries. By implication, when music is appropriately applied and utilised in vehicles while traveling, living in an ever-bustling urban city will become more tolerable. The study concludes by calling for the enactment of carefully designed protocols for listening to music while driving with attendant modalities for enforcing such policies to enhance road safety and to reduce stress in urban areas.