The song gained significant popularity in the US after being featured in the second season finale of the medical drama Grey's Anatomy, which aired on 15 May 2006.

[3] "Chasing Cars" was one of the songs that revealed the impact of legal downloads on single sales in the UK, selling consistently for years after its release.

[11] It has also sold 3,900,000 copies in the US by January 2015, making it one of the top best-selling rock songs in the digital era.

"[16] Snow Patrol played "Chasing Cars" on an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

The band also performed the song when they were the musical guest on 17 March 2007 episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

It was heard again in the eighteenth episode of the show's seventh season on 31 March 2011, along with the cast's cover of Brandi Carlile's "The Story" and The Fray's "How to Save a Life".

In the UK, it was also used in the 'Best Bits' montage on the live final of the seventh series of Big Brother on 18 August 2006.

In the UK music video, directed by Arni & Kinski,[17] Gary Lightbody lies on the open ground as cameras film him from different angles.

In the US version, directed by Nick Brandt, Lightbody is shown lying down in busy places while singing.

Billboard magazine's Sven Phillip found "Chasing Cars" to be the only song on Eyes Open that was "not to be missed".

[8] In 2007, "Chasing Cars" was voted number 1 in the Top 500 Songs: The Words Behind the Music, on Bristol's GWR FM (and other stations in The One Network).

"Chasing Cars" was released as an overlapping single in early June, and the video was re-edited to include clips from the show, Grey's Anatomy.

"Chasing Cars" duly surged back in at a top 10 position (number 9, just three places below its peak), and remained on the chart for 48 consecutive weeks, entirely on downloads, only falling out again in December.

[20] When the rules finally changed in October 2007 to include digital-only singles (partly due to declining physical sales),[21] "Chasing Cars" had dwindled in popularity and peaked at number 53.

[24] "Chasing Cars" was voted number one in a 2006 Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All Time poll.