Male drivers more likely to take risks on the road when listening to 'seductive' female sat nav voices
Drivers are more likely to take risks when listening to 'seductive' voices
PA
New research has found that men are more likely to take risks at the wheel when their car sat nav systems have seductive female voices.
Data from Fudan University revealed that if a man was given an instruction by a high-pitched woman's voice, they were more likely to run through yellow lights.
Female speech has been used as the default voice for car sat navs since the technology was rolled out around 30 years ago.
In one experiment, 66 men were given instructions by a female voice in a virtual reality driving simulator where the traffic light would change to amber as they approached the junction.
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The research team found that motorists were more brazen with their actions with certain voices
PEXELSThe computer software was used to alter the pitch of the voice between low and high for different test subjects.
As part of the research, the voices would say phrases like "approaching the intersection" and "proceed" when the traffic light was green.
Participants in the trial who heard the higher-pitched female voice were around 40 per cent more likely to keep going through the amber light.
The research team involved in the trial said: "It is advised to reduce the femininity of voices in car voice interaction designs to enhance driving safety.
"While innovations like celebrity voice packs in car navigation systems are popular among users, their influence on safety, particularly whether they prompt risky behaviours among male drivers due to the allure of ‘seductive’ female voices, remains questionable."
A second test was also trialled which saw men cross a plank bridge across a high gap, with the men being played a female voice sample with half being high-pitched and the other being low-pitched.
The men who listened to the higher-pitched voice said it was more appealing to them and crossed the plank faster.
Researchers from Fudan University said men were more willing to take risks because the higher-pitched voice "subliminally triggered them to take greater risk".
The research concluded: "In our study, men exposed to high-pitched voices engaged more in risky behaviours, such as running amber lights while driving.
"This suggests that male risk-taking behaviours influenced by female voices can be perilous when driving."
Experts sometimes warn drivers about using sat navs as they could be outdated, especially when monitoring the speed limit on the road they are travelling on.
This can be especially true when there are temporary road works with speed limits set up to manage traffic efficiently.
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