Drivers name the Christmas songs they most enjoy hearing on their car’s stereo – and those they love to hate. Christmas songs not only make us feel good, they more irritating ones can also have a marked effect on our driving. Almost nine out of ten drivers (88 per cent) admitted that hearing Christmas tunes in the car affected their mood and behaviour when behind the wheel. Six out of ten (62%) said when a well-loved song came on they were less likely to be irritated by other road users and more likely to be more considerate to both motorists and pedestrians. However, 17% admitted that when festive music that they disliked was played, they felt irritated more quickly by the bad decisions of other road users and were less likely to show politeness while behind the wheel. The song named the most cringe-worthy in a survey of 1,040 drivers by Halfords was Mariah Carey’s 1994 hit All I Want for Christmas is You, followed by Paul McCartney’s A Wonderful Christmas Time and the Jackson 5’s Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Overplaying was blamed for many of the songs on the “hate list”. Mariah Carey’s sugary pop tune is the second most played song at this time of year according to the Performing Rights Society (beaten by the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl’s Fairytale of New York).
