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Video Games Blamed for Bad Driving

by Terrence O'Brien on November 19, 2008 at 08:40 AM

Video Games Blamed for Bad Drivers
Anyone who has ever played an extended 'Grand Theft Auto' session, only to have to later get behind the wheel of a car, doesn't need to be told that video games are a bad influence on drivers. We constantly drive down the street mentally tallying how many points we would score for nailing the old lady with the walker and how much air we could get if we floored it over this upcoming hill. But leave it to German researchers and Australian law enforcement to confirm the glaringly obvious.

In a new study, German researchers claim that video games that let players drive recklessly, crash, and otherwise have fun, are causing people to be less responsible behind the wheel. Interestingly, they say driving games only negatively affect the real driving skills of men. One researcher, Supt Evans, pointed to the obvious disconnect from reality, "In games you race, you crash and it is a matter of pressing the buttons and off you go again. In real life it doesn't work that way, you can be killed." Thanks for that brilliant analysis.

We smell another crusade in the making, in which video games become the scape goat.

We're not denying that playing some of these games might actually have an impact on how a person drives, but let's be honest, people drive recklessly because they're jerks with no concern for the safety of others, not because they just played 'Gran Turismo 5.' What do you think? [From: News.com.au]

Tags: driving, driving games, DrivingGames, research, study

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