Your Road Trip Playlist Only Fights Fatigue for 20 Minutes—Then You're Screwed

What the New Science Really Says

You blast your favorite songs, crack a window, sip bad gas-station coffee—and still catch yourself blinking too long on the highway. New lab work says that’s not in your head. Music can delay driving fatigue for a while, but it can’t beat sleep and it can even fool you into thinking you’re sharper than you are.

In a 2025 simulator study, researchers ran drivers through a 60-minute highway scenario with positive music, negative music, or just road noise.