Are Taylor Swift and Drake causing fatal car crashes?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-08-18 01:00

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Rates of fatal car crashes are around 15% higher on major music album release days compared to the 10 days before and after the album drops, according to US research. The study looked at the rates of car crash fatalities in the US around the release of the 10 albums with the highest single-day streaming numbers between 2017 and 2022, including Taylor Swift's Midnights, Drake's Certified Lover Boy, and Harry Styles's Harry's House, and found there were 18 extra deaths on the day of a major album release. Whether people were 'flooring it through the fences', 'steering an Aston Martin into a ditch', or just distracted by all the diss tracks isn't clear, but the researchers say that smartphone-enabled driver distraction is a likely contributor. A linked editorial says that despite this research, there is still no easy way to predict how much the next blockbuster music album release will increase traffic risks.

News release

From: JAMA

Smartphones, Online Music Streaming, and Traffic Fatalities
In this cross-sectional study of US traffic fatalities, major music album releases, accompanied by increased online streaming, were associated with a significant increase in traffic fatalities, suggesting that online music streaming through smartphones may significantly contribute to distracted driving and traffic fatalities.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Harvard Medical School, USA

Funder: Conflict of Interest Disclosures: DrWorsham reported receiving fees in the last 36 months from Alosa Health, Analysis Group Inc, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, FVC Health, NuvoAir Medical, Substack, Tell Health Inc, the New York Times, TIME USA LLC, and theWall Street Journal; income from book rights from Doubleday Books; and speaking fees from the HarryWalker Agency unrelated to the submittedwork. Dr Jena reported receiving personal fees from Analysis Group Inc, Doubleday Books, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, theWall Street Journal, FreakonomicsMD, and the HarryWalker Agency outside the submitted work and unpaid board membership of the United Network for Organ Sharing. No other disclosures were reported.

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