BSM say racing games breed "game boy racers"

Take a break

2 March 2007 15:36 GMT / By Stuart Miles

While alcohol is supposed to make you act like a super hero, driving games, according to the British School of Motoring, make you act like a racing driver when it comes to getting behind the wheel.

According to the organisation Britain's roads are being plagued by a generation of "game boy racers" who are driving recklessly after playing computer simulation games, new research reveals today.

However an industry insider told Pocket-lint that they disagree; "The best, most sensible and considerate drivers I know all play games such as Burnout, Need For Speed or Gran Turismo. It's all about getting your aggression out before you get behind the wheel for real. This survey is just the usual stab at the video games industry for the sake of a quick piece of coverage".

The survey did find however that over one-third (34%) of young male and female drivers of the 1000 questioned confess they are more likely to drive faster on roads shortly after indulging in on-screen driving action and a quarter (27%) of young drivers admit they take greater driving risks after a gaming session.

The study, by the UK's largest driving school, BSM, shows nearly a quarter (22%) of young drivers even claim they have imagined they're in a driving simulation game while driving on the UK's roads.

With two in five (42%) 16-24-year-olds playing driving simulation games at least once a week, and 6% of young men playing daily, the research shows that frequent gamers are almost twice as likely as less regular players to lose their sense of reality on the open road (31% and 15%, respectively).

And young men are the worst offenders, with the BSM study finding they are almost twice as likely as women to blur virtual and on-road driving (27% and 16% respectively).

However, although driving simulation games appear to negatively affect the habits of newly qualified drivers, the research also indicates that they can be a positive tool for learners.

BSM suggests that you make sure you take a break between playing a driving game and getting behind the wheel. Allow at least 1 hour to make the transition from fantasy to reality.

Full tags

Gaming, Racing games, BSM, VU Games