Survey Says Link To Video Games And Unsafe Driving Is 'Indisputable' -- Which, Of Course, It Isn't
from the jack-thompson-on-line-one dept
Video games get blamed for all sorts of things, either by politicians looking to score points or lawyers looking to cash in. There are a few problems with all of these accusations: the causality is never clear-cut (nor ever really proven), and by buying into it, the responsibility for people's actions shifts from the people themselves to some video game or developer -- which isn't a very healthy response to violent crimes or other actions. Games that feature driving are a favorite target, and now a new survey from a British driving school (nah, no detectable bias there) says it "shows an indisputable link between gaming and dangerous driving". The company surveyed 1,000 British 16- to 24-year-olds (which is a bit odd, since except in rare cases, people have to be 17 before they can legally drive, or even learn to drive, in the UK), and a third of them said they "are more likely to drive faster on roads" right after playing driving games, and a quarter saying they take more driving risks. It also says that frequent games -- with what qualifies as frequent never defined -- are twice as likely as non-gamers "to lose their sense of reality on the open road", though those same frequent gamers also pass their driving tests on the first try more often than non-gamers. For a change, the company doesn't call for the games to be banned, it just suggests that gamers wait an hour after playing before driving for real, which sounds like the modern equivalent of the old wives' tale about waiting to swim for a while after you've eaten. Despite the company's claims, there is no indisputable link here, particularly since the claim is based on a survey of people saying they're more or less likely to behave a certain way, which is hardly conclusive evidence. All the survey really does is deflect attention from the underlying problem: people being too stupid or careless to make the distinction between video games and reality. If the antics people are capable of in video games make them think they could do something similar in a real car, there's an underlying problem there that's going to manifest itself at some point, regardless of whether or not they've played video games. That's the problem, not some video game.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Video games AFTER drivng is highly recommended
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Hmm
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Almost agree
I'm pretty sure the survey would be true for watching NASCAR, but I doubt it has as many positive benefits as gaming.
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If everyone would just spend some time improving their driving and reflexes, and focus, there would be far fewer accidents. Every day that I drive to work I have to play dodge the idiot and it makes me furious that we give those people licenses. Rather then targeting video games, let’s work on the people that are actually on the road.
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"I also know there's better proof than surveys which say games make me a better driver. Such as better hand-eye coordination, learning of driving physics,"
Burnout revenge hasn't taught me much about driving physics. I wonder if that bus driver in atlanta was playing video games before he drove off that overpass.
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Re:
Yes, Carlo, please explain the bias.
People don't skip over driving schools and get their credentials from a video game, so what would the "biased" motivation be in such a study?
Maybe the problem is that the video game causes them to forget what side of the road they're supposed to be driving on.
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Re:
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THis is why...
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What the hell
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Two words "Gran Turismo"
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Next weeks article:
"Related stories: Man breaks arm falliong off a wall: SUes MAtrix direcor"
Maybe this stupidity would be reduced if a bunch of surveys "proving" patent nonsense were released, such as a survey "proving" that the majority of people believe that the world is flat or some otehr nonsense.
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Maybe...
-"Didn't your mother ever give you a Gameboy?"
-Yes, thats why I'm driving like I did in the racing games!
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I believe it
The bigger problem is that if I've been playing a lot of GTA lately, I start wondering things like "is this street wide enough to do a brake turn on?" or "Is this hill steep enough to get an insane jump?" And the all-time best "Should I veer into oncoming traffic and clip that guy on the bike?
If you're reading, Mr. Thompson, I'm kidding.
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You idiot, AC
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Perhaps
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And no one is blaming professional racing?
Speeding Montoya loses licence
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Games and behavior
"The devil made me do it" defense has been around for a long time.
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Video games saved my ass
I was in a line of fast moving traffic, and saw my exit as I was going past it, and for whatever reason tried to take it anyway... My car started to skid out, but I reacted instinctively, releasing the breaks, and straightening the car, then pulling it around. I made the corner ... just. I attribute that entirely to the "practice" I had that month on a Porsche driving game.
The good physics in that game meant that when I hit the same problem in the real world I just corrected, it was a learned movement. I dread to think what would have happened had the car spun.. It would have been a mess.
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What about movies?
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The Inverse of the Matter
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I don't know about you...
However, I have never had the urge to kill anyone after any violent game. I consider myself 'normal' just like everyone out there (considering themselves to be normal)
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Video Games Impact the Way I drive
Maybe it's me, but my brain needs to adjust to the lower speeds.
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thanks,
dawn jones
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