Video racing games may spur risky driving: study
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From: Fontana, California
Video racing games may spur risky driving: study
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070318/...s_driving_dc_1
People have been driving worse and worse over the years. Add to the fact that there's stupid songs about ghost riding as well. And don't forget cell phones, people that experience road rage, and just plainly put, people aren't patient anymore and drive the way they want.
Here in so cal, on ANY given day, in traffic, I'll see people driving on the shoulder to pass traffic, people that skip from the freeway to merging lanes to pass traffic. I've seen people that blow by the merging lights on on ramps to the freeway because they just don't care. People that drive in the HOV lane when they shouldn't. I've seen big rigs cut off other drivers ON PURPOSE!
They're worrying about a small percentage of the problem on the roads. There's a bigger problem, people aren't patient anymore and don't give a rats ass about other's on the road.
Video racing games may spur risky driving: study
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who play car racing video games may be more prone to drive recklessly and get into accidents, according to a study that adds to evidence that video games can influence the behavior of some players.
The study by German researchers published on Sunday examined the effect these games, featuring realistic driving environments with players often racing through city and suburban traffic, affect people who play them.
"Driving actions in these games often include competitive and reckless driving, speeding and crashing into other cars or pedestrians, or performing risky stunts with the vehicle. In short, most actions in racing games imply a very high risk of having an accident or severe crash in a highly realistic virtual road traffic environment," the researchers wrote.
The researchers first questioned 198 men and women. Those who played the games most often were more likely to report engaging in aggressive and risky driving and getting in auto accidents. Those who played these games less often reported driving more cautiously, the researchers said.
The researchers then studied 68 men and found those who played even one racing game took more risks afterward in traffic situations on a computer simulator than those who played another type of game.
Then the researchers had 83 men play either a racing game or another type of game, and found that those who played the racing game reported more thoughts and feelings associated with risk-taking than the others.
"Risk-acceptance is one of the most prominent and important factors in the discussion of the origin of accidents caused by young drivers," Joerg Kubitzki of the Allianz Center for Technology, who conducted the study along with researchers at Munich's Ludwig-Maximilians University, said by e-mail.
The researchers cited previous research involving the "shooter" genre of games, in which the player shoots at adversaries, that found an increase in aggression-related thoughts and actions among people who played these games. But they said little had been known about the influence driving games might have on actual driving behavior of players.
"The question of age restrictions, legally or voluntary, should be discussed not only for "shooter" games but also for this kind of games, which have an impact on traffic safety," Kubitzki said.
The study appeared in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, published by the American Psychological Association.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who play car racing video games may be more prone to drive recklessly and get into accidents, according to a study that adds to evidence that video games can influence the behavior of some players.
The study by German researchers published on Sunday examined the effect these games, featuring realistic driving environments with players often racing through city and suburban traffic, affect people who play them.
"Driving actions in these games often include competitive and reckless driving, speeding and crashing into other cars or pedestrians, or performing risky stunts with the vehicle. In short, most actions in racing games imply a very high risk of having an accident or severe crash in a highly realistic virtual road traffic environment," the researchers wrote.
The researchers first questioned 198 men and women. Those who played the games most often were more likely to report engaging in aggressive and risky driving and getting in auto accidents. Those who played these games less often reported driving more cautiously, the researchers said.
The researchers then studied 68 men and found those who played even one racing game took more risks afterward in traffic situations on a computer simulator than those who played another type of game.
Then the researchers had 83 men play either a racing game or another type of game, and found that those who played the racing game reported more thoughts and feelings associated with risk-taking than the others.
"Risk-acceptance is one of the most prominent and important factors in the discussion of the origin of accidents caused by young drivers," Joerg Kubitzki of the Allianz Center for Technology, who conducted the study along with researchers at Munich's Ludwig-Maximilians University, said by e-mail.
The researchers cited previous research involving the "shooter" genre of games, in which the player shoots at adversaries, that found an increase in aggression-related thoughts and actions among people who played these games. But they said little had been known about the influence driving games might have on actual driving behavior of players.
"The question of age restrictions, legally or voluntary, should be discussed not only for "shooter" games but also for this kind of games, which have an impact on traffic safety," Kubitzki said.
The study appeared in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, published by the American Psychological Association.
People have been driving worse and worse over the years. Add to the fact that there's stupid songs about ghost riding as well. And don't forget cell phones, people that experience road rage, and just plainly put, people aren't patient anymore and drive the way they want.
Here in so cal, on ANY given day, in traffic, I'll see people driving on the shoulder to pass traffic, people that skip from the freeway to merging lanes to pass traffic. I've seen people that blow by the merging lights on on ramps to the freeway because they just don't care. People that drive in the HOV lane when they shouldn't. I've seen big rigs cut off other drivers ON PURPOSE!
They're worrying about a small percentage of the problem on the roads. There's a bigger problem, people aren't patient anymore and don't give a rats ass about other's on the road.
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,340
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From: Tucson Az
It would be interesting to know which video games make you the most accident prone.
I actually feel I learned allot about the theory's behind driving from Papyrus games. I played Need for speed at the same time, but never tried to out run cop by threading me car through two lines of traffic in real life. On top of that the people I saw getting in the most vehicular trouble in highschool didn't even have console or computer games at the time.
I actually feel I learned allot about the theory's behind driving from Papyrus games. I played Need for speed at the same time, but never tried to out run cop by threading me car through two lines of traffic in real life. On top of that the people I saw getting in the most vehicular trouble in highschool didn't even have console or computer games at the time.
Big Block go VROOOM!
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 8,578
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From: Chicago Burbs
Just to clarify a point, the games used in this study were not circuit racing games that emulate/simulate closed competition. The one's used apparently all involved racing on open public roads. While I don't think that fact matters too much to the driving habits of anyone with more than a pea-brain, I do think it's worth noting if the articles about this study don't mention it.
Moderator Alumnus
Joined: Mar 2002
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Definitely. Try playing a game like Burnout for a long time and then going out in your car! Happens to me all the time, I feel like driving like an idiot! Of course I don't, but I could totally see how the axe-murderer types could actually do it.
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