Bet you’ve never thought of Ed Sheeran as “dangerous.” Billy Idol, maybe. Queen at full volume, we’re pushing it, but…sure. But “Shape of You” has somehow been named the most dangerous song on popular Spotify driving playlists, because the catchy-as-hell song moves at 192 beats per minute.
An August 2026 analysis from Trujillo Gonzalez Law Firm looked at 30 Spotify road-trip and driving playlists and pulled out the 50 songs that came up most. The songs were then compared by tempo. Music above 120 BPM has been linked with faster driving, worse attention, and more mistakes behind the wheel.
The top five dangerous songs were:
- “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran — 192 BPM
- “Wonderwall” by Oasis — 173 BPM
- “STAY” by The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber — 169 BPM
- “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol — 166 BPM
- “One Way or Another” by Blondie — 162 BPM
“Shape of You” appeared on 24 of the 30 playlists and has racked up over five billion Spotify streams, so this isn’t exactly some obscure club track ambushing six people in Berlin.
The rest of the top 10 included Pharrell Williams’ “Happy,” Outkast’s “Hey Ya!,” Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now,” The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside,” and Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven.” “Happy” scored 95% for danceability, while Bruno Mars came in at 92% and Outkast at 91%.
If your driving playlist leans metal, hardcore punk, drum-and-bass, or aggressive rap, you’re allowed to laugh here. Compared with Five Finger Death Punch, “Wonderwall” is like music for folding laundry. The study didn’t examine every song humans have ever created. It only looked at the 50 tracks that came up most across those 30 Spotify playlists, so this is very much a mainstream-road-trip ranking.
There’s a physical reason faster music can change how you drive. The attorney pointed to the autonomic nervous system, which controls heart rate and stress responses, along with rhythmic entrainment, where behavior can sync with a beat. The firm puts the safer driving range at 60 to 100 BPM.
Keep “Mr. Brightside.” Keep Ed Sheeran, too, if that’s your thing. Just maybe notice what happens to the speedometer when the volume goes up, and the steering-wheel drumming gets intense.
The post The 10 Most Dangerous Songs to Drive to, According to a New Study appeared first on VICE.
