Do Racing Games Affect Driving Habits?

Date: April 8, 2019

Gaming has evolved a lot over the previous few years and has become a culture during these year it has started to influence a lot of people both mentally and their decision in daily life. Now a days gaming has also became an addiction too. People think that the reality that they are inside the video gaming world is superior to the world they live in their daily lives.

Alongside that car racing game is also a fad in the video gaming culture. Big companies like Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Honda sponsor these video games to include their brand cars inside these games. This also becomes a sort of their advertising for these brands. People are so interested in these car racing video games that they start to want to buy these cars in real life. The reason being their immersion in video game world.

Several different Studies have shown that racing games have effected teens driving habits. First, the good news: playing video games can actually help young drivers develop concentration skills and faster reaction times. A University of Rochester study showed that video game players develop greater sensitivity to their surroundings and are up to 25% faster at making correct choices.

But the same studies has also indicated that the great these teenagers play car racing games, the higher the chance of getting into a car accidents. According to a 2007 study of drivers ages 16 to 24, more than 30 percent were more likely to drive faster after playing a driving game, and a German study from the same year found participants were more aggressive when they drove a simulator right after finishing a virtual race.

Similarly the modification that these people conduct to their games in the car racing games are so fun for them that they want to do the same modification in real life to their cars as well. Owners spend a lot of money on these car modifications but video games are not the only reason that these people make these modifications.

There are also positive aspects of playing video games, playing video games can actually help young drivers develop concentration skills and faster reaction times. A University of Rochester study showed that video game players develop greater sensitivity to their surroundings and are up to 25% faster at making correct choices.

So to say "racing games cause bad driving" is certainly an overstatement. Maybe saying "some racing games may cause bad driving" is a better conclusion, but it's still not a very helpful headline. People need to know which games were studied, and why some games are worse than others. And mentioning that the results only apply to men in this study might be a good idea, too.

But how can these problems be dealt with? it is true that car racing games can cause problem on the road in real life but banning them altogether isn’t a good option but limiting the time spent on playing these games can certainly decrease these affects, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends keeping kids’ total screen time—on smartphones, TV and games—to less than two hours per day.