Survey in UK reveals reasons for stress and arguments in cars

Around 14 million cars take to UK roads during a bank holiday, causing traffic mayhem and providing the perfect catalyst for in-car arguments.

Harman, the audio and infotainment company, recently conducted an online survey to cite the biggest causes of bust-ups with fellow passengers while on the road and the results include everything from humorous to surprising.

‘Getting lost’ has been named as the main cause of arguments on car journeys with a third of UK respondents (33%) voting this as the biggest reason of arguments on the road. The poll’s results further listed bad driving habits such as sharp braking and speeding as the second biggest cause (22%), while the length of the journey was third (13%), closely followed by music choice (12%) as the fourth greatest cause of bickering while behind the wheel.

“These results show just how stressful car journeys can be. However, many of the argument inciters identified in the poll can be helped with the latest in-car technology, driver aids and a good infotainment system,” said Matt Fisch, VP, Global Engineering Audio SBU, Lifestyle Audio Division from Harman.

“State-of-the-art satellite navigation systems can help motorists find their destination and reach it quickly and more efficiently with the incorporation of real-time traffic updates. Clever driver aids can help improve some bad driving habits, while the length of journey is all about perception. If the journey is made enjoyable through the right in-car systems then the perceived length of the journey is much shorter. The benefits of these infotainment systems are only going to improve as our lives and cars become more connected.”

SOUND ZONES CAN SOOTHE

While getting lost can cause frustration, listening to ‘Let it go’ for the 16^th time on repeat can be excruciating. Harman says its sound engineers identify with this problem and have developed a system that has the potential for each person in the car to listen to their own preferred audio without disturbing others within the car.

Called Individual Sound Zones (ISZ), the system utilises the vehicle’s existing audio system speakers along with the addition of highly directional speakers in the car’s headrests and ceiling. This set-up, combined with specially adjusted state-of-the-art digital signal processing for the vehicle cabin, creates ‘sound zones’ for each of the passengers, with minimal interference between them. This means that the driver can listen to the satnav instructions and make phone calls while the other passengers listen to their favourite music, film or audio book without inflicting it on others.

Also read: Harman develops in-car personal sound zones