Have you ever gotten to your destination, or close to, it, and turned down the radio in order to look for an address or park the car? Don’t worry, almost every Nigerian driver does this. In fact, it’s almost tough to not turn down the radio when trying to find an address or a parking spot.
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But why exactly do drivers in Nigeria do this?
Nigerian Drivers Turn Down the Radio so They can “See” Better
What is funny is that everyone has done this at some point in their driving careers. Believe it or not.
It’s all about concentration. But it’s also about being human. We humans can only do a finite amount of tasks at one time, so if you’re listening to music then your brain is paying attention to the sounds coming into your ears and has to process them.
And if you have to add to that processing power by concentrating on another task, like finding an address, it can be difficult to do both at the same time.
Multi-tasking increases our chances of error by up to 50 percent and even when we do try to multi-task, it doesn’t actually speed up the process either. Instead, multi-tasking can double the amount of time it takes to do each task. In that case, you can see why trying to look for an address could possibly take longer if you’re distracted by music.
The human brain handles tasks sequentially, so when we think we’re multitasking, it’s actually our brains switching from one task to the next in nanoseconds.
The Type of Music that you’re Listening to can Make a Difference
The type of music that you’re listening to while trying to find a parking spot can have an effect on your brain. A study by Allianz Insurance revealed that jazz and blues music is the most distracting to drivers while classical music is the least distracting.
Why You Shouldn’t Text and Drive
With all of this evidence, we can see why turning your music down when looking for an address or parking spot is necessary. Our brains can really only handle one major task at a time, and when we introduce another task that requires the utmost concentration, it becomes sensory overload at the moment. This is also why talking on the phone, or texting while driving is a very bad idea.
Conclusion
So the next time you find yourself telling your passengers to be quiet when hunting for a spot to park in, remember to do yourself a favor by relaxing and doing one thing at a time. Doing so can not only help you accomplish the main task at hand, but it can even save lives. If not yours or your passengers, possibly someone else’s.
