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Steve
PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 13:52 
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Sky News wrote:
Britain's New Road Menace
Updated: 11:38, Friday March 02, 2007

Britain's roads are plagued by "game boy racers" who drive recklessly after playing on computer consoles, it is claimed.

More than a third of motorists aged 16-24 say they are more likely to drive faster after playing on-screen car games.

As many as 27% admitted taking greater risks on the road after a gaming session.

A quarter even imagine they are in a driving simulation game while driving for real, with men the worst offenders in this respect.

The survey for driving school BSM also found 34% of the drivers questioned think computer games can improve real-life driving ability.

Two in five believe they can help their reflexes.

The survey also revealed that 54% of frequent game-players pass their driving test first time compared with only 45% of those who only play games infrequently.

BSM's road safety consultant Robin Cummins said: "This study shows an indisputable link between gaming and dangerous driving.

"With more than 200 young people killed each year due to speeding alone, it's crucial that they learn to `keep it real' on the road.

:: A total of 1,000 drivers aged 16-24 took part in the survey.

I could well believe this, but what could we do? Ban driving games? :roll:


Last edited by Steve on Thu Apr 05, 2007 13:09, edited 1 time in total.

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SafeSpeed
PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 13:56 
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smeggy wrote:
I could well believe this, but what could we do? Ban driving games? :roll:


Real road safety needs to work with the raw material of real people in the real world. The article is an unhelpful contribution to the 'ban it' culture, that contributes to a road safety policy that works against people.

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Toltec
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 14:15 
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I suspect it would be possible to find similar results linked to watching films with cars chases or just general action films and possibly even sport.

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Sixy_the_red
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 14:59 
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FWIW I actually found that playing driving games whilst drunk gave me a very powerful insight.

Video games can and do improve your hand - eye coordination and basic reflexes, but what they don't do is hone the specific skills required for good and safe motoring.

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Johnnytheboy
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 15:38 
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Quote:
FWIW I actually found that playing driving games whilst drunk gave me a very powerful insight.


:yesyes:

I know that feeling.

"Why can't I steer properly?"
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Edd
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 15:41 
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Johnnytheboy wrote:
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FWIW I actually found that playing driving games whilst drunk gave me a very powerful insight.


:yesyes:

I know that feeling.

"Why can't I steer properly?"


and you also find that the more beer you have, the less and less you actually use the breaks :lol:

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RobinXe
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 15:47 
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Edd wrote:
and you also find that the more beer you have, the less and less you actually use the breaks :lol:


Dunno, I find the more beer I have the more breaks I need :P :twisted:
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Lum
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 16:44 
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So people who play driving games regularly are more likely to pass their driving test first time, but playing driving games is a bad thing.

If you take both of these points as fact (and I'm not saying that I do) then surely the only possibly conclusion is that the L-test has as much bearing on reality as a PlayStation game.



I'd love to see some research into the effects of driving after playing, say, Carmageddon vs playing GT4. (The former has you driving massively overpowered American-style cars that really can't corner and gaining points for running over pedestrians wheras the latter is a game praised for how realistic all the cars handle)

I suspect, however, this is just another angle of attack from the fun police who would like to see all computer games banned.
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Ziltro
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 17:17 
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I don't think I've ever played a car racing game without managing to get the car on its roof. They just don't steer right. Only way I can control them is by doing handbrake turns, if the game even has that feature. If anything it would make me drive slower because I'd be convinced I am going to crash at every corner like I do in the game. :lol:

If driving games are bad should we also ban flight simulators?

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ree.t
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 17:40 
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So we have teenagers who can't separate a game from real life.
The question needs to be asked why?
Also I have experience with teenagers who want to “modify” their “rides” because they have watched the Fast and the Furious, and played the need for speed series of games(these teenagers would probably drive like loons anyway). I also know teenagers want to blame anyone or thing else other than themselves if they do something wrong ESPICALLY if you give then the excuse!

I have also noted how my skill at driving games diminishes, when I am drinking beer.

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civil engineer
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 17:43 
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:x

Typical Nannyism again.

'These Games must be bad'.........'now lets find some links to prove it'

Typical ar$e about face causal analysis. I thought we started with the effect and looked for the cause. It now seems the norm to find the cause and then go hunting for an effect!

Why doesn't GTA make me go out and steal taxis????
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ree.t
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 17:54 
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Lum wrote:
playing GT4.


This game would probably improve your knowledge of how cars handle etc.

I have not played GT4 but I did have GT2, and the instruction book was very thick!
I remember it talked about factors that limit tyres grip, how weight shifts on acceleration, and how the shifting of weight affected how FWD, RWD and AWD cars handled. I learnt a lot. I suspect GT4 is a lot more complex.


This is probably where I got my quite worrying obsession with tyres from.

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ed_m
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 18:54 
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there is sooooo many feedback paths missing when playing a driving game... even with a force feedback wheel (thats my excuse for being crap and i'm sticking to it).

the automotive dept at my uni (after i left) helped develop a vehicle model for a computer game to use.. and sent the developers off to tune it... the parameters they ended up with to make it 'playable' were completely off the wall compared to any sensible car!

the vehicle dynamics magazine i get at work has a challenge in each issue where they give gt4 to various industry experts to tune 3 of the cars for fastest lap time... their opinions of how realistic the parameter changes are varies.. as does their success in tuning the cars :D
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SafeSpeed
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 19:39 
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ed_m wrote:
there is sooooo many feedback paths missing when playing a driving game... even with a force feedback wheel (thats my excuse for being crap and i'm sticking to it).


I had some good fun three or four years ago with Colin Macrae Rally xx (2? 3?) and a force feedback wheel. After some tweeking I could feel both front wheel slip and self centre from castor, which made it pretty good fun driving the Cossie sideways.

I've never tried another driving game that self centred from castor...

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Zamzara
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 20:24 
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ree.t wrote:
This game would probably improve your knowledge of how cars handle etc.


True. But if it also worsens your atttude at the same time, then that's a definite net loss in standards. I can well imagine it would in some newly qualified drivers.
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hairyben
PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 21:40 
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smeggy wrote:
Sky News wrote:
A quarter even imagine they are in a driving simulation game while driving for real, with men the worst offenders in this respect.


probably in much the same way the pilot of the 747 you board for your next holiday may well imagine at some point he's at the stick of a f-4 straffing gooks in a paddy field while evading migs. doesn't mean he's gonna start pulling high-g turns cos he knows all his passengers would sick and complain. statistics and loaded questions....

most people will daydream and fanticise, doesn't mean they can't differentiate between that and reality.

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Lum
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 22:16 
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Zamzara wrote:
ree.t wrote:
This game would probably improve your knowledge of how cars handle etc.


True. But if it also worsens your atttude at the same time, then that's a definite net loss in standards. I can well imagine it would in some newly qualified drivers.


I strongly doubt this is the case in normal well-adjusted people, maybe in the case of a few nutcases out there, but that is a much larger debate which has been going on for ages and was last dragged out in great detail after the Columbine shootings.

Carmageddon was the in game that I played loads during my driving lessons and at the start of my driving career and I have never once attempted to run someone over, even when they were being annoying. Believe it or not kids can differentiate between computer games and reality.
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Ernest Marsh
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 02:24 
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Perhaps they should watch Clarkson trying to emulate his success on the Sony Playstation on the Nuremburg Ring.

When he did the real circuit in a real car of the same type, he was a good deal slower. If their "research" was correct, he should have been faster, or crashed. :oops:

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Lum
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 07:01 
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Ernest Marsh wrote:
Perhaps they should watch Clarkson trying to emulate his success on the Sony Playstation on the Nuremburg Ring.

When he did the real circuit in a real car of the same type, he was a good deal slower. If their "research" was correct, he should have been faster, or crashed. :oops:


You mean as opposed to Clarkson applying sensible risk management. On the game you risk injuring a few pixels, in real life things could get far worse, therefore he's more cautious.

Sorry, I think that's far too much like obvious common sense for the author of this article.
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Zamzara
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 15:58 
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Lum wrote:
I strongly doubt this is the case in normal well-adjusted people, maybe in the case of a few nutcases out there, but that is a much larger debate which has been going on for ages and was last dragged out in great detail after the Columbine shootings.


I totally agree. It's a shame a few nutcases can cause so much horror. I don't know what the answer is.
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