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Top Thing to Do While Driving? Car-aoke

More than half of us admit to singing out loud in the car, the top non-driving activity while behind the wheel.
More than half of us admit to singing out loud in the car, the top non-driving activity while behind the wheel.
More than half of us admit to singing out loud in the car, the top non-driving activity while behind the wheel.Ford Motor Co.
/ Source: The Detroit Bureau

We all do it, or we’ve caught someone else doing it. Sometimes it’s 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.

More than half of us admit to singing out loud in the car, the top non-driving activity while behind the wheel.
More than half of us admit to singing out loud in the car, the top non-driving activity while behind the wheel.Ford Motor Co.

According to a study by DMEautomotive, singing out loud was the top non-driving activity people do in the car — something at least 56 percent of motorists admit to engaging in while behind the wheel. Women are more likely to sing then men: 65 percent to 49 percent, and people under 35 are more likely to rock out (61 percent) than those 35 and over (54 percent).

What are we singing? A separate study from Insurance.com finds the favorite song for motorists is that 1981 Journey power ballad, “Don’t Stop Believin’.” (See below for the rest of the greatest hits.)

A variety of studies have focused on the popularity — and dangers — of texting while driving. The DMEautomotive study echoed those worrisome findings: 26 percent of motorists admit they read a text message while driving; 20 percent said they also are clicking away at the keyboard; and 50 percent acknowledged they talk on the phone.

There are other things that can keep a motorist’s attention away from the road. Fifty percent report eating while driving, so, perhaps it’s not surprising that the study found 6 percent of men and 4 percent of women occasionally floss behind the wheel. Men are more likely to watch movies or TV: 10 percent compared to 3 percent of women.

Insurance.com recently surveyed 2,000 drivers and asked them to choose the best and worst songs for driving. What’s after that Journey hit?

  • “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen
  • “You Shook Me All Night Long” by AC/DC
  • “Any Way You Want It” by Journey
  • “Life is a Highway” by Tom Cochrane

The least popular:

  • “Who Let the Dogs Out?” by the Baha Men
  • “We Are Never, Ever Getting Back Together Again” by Taylor Swift
  • “Believe” by Cher

-Michael Strong, The Detroit Bureau

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