Racers Can Encourage Real-Life Recklessness

According to a study published this Sunday by researchers at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, playing racing video games may lower people's risk-taking inhibitions associated with driving, causing them to be more likely to drive recklessly or become involved in a traffic accident. The study noted that racing games tend to have so many driving risks that the risk of an in-game accident is very high. This may result in an instinctual willingness to take more risks, since accidents are so likely to begin with, and Sunday's study claims that this instinct carries over to the real world. After questioning 198 males and females, the group found that regular racing game players were more likely to have reported getting in automobile accidents and driving aggressively. Researchers then studied the differences in risk-taking behavior on a driving simulator as exhibited by 68 males, some of whom had been playing racing games and some of whom had not. Those who had been playing one or more racing game operated the simulator--presumably a more realistic one than the driving game they had just been playing--with less regard for risk. Finally, researchers questioned 83 males who were instructed to play a racing game or a different type of video game, finding reports more reports of thoughts associated with risk-taking among those who had played the racing game than among the others. Joerg Kubitzki, one of the researchers involved in the study, stated that racing games, like excessively violent games, should carry content ratings pertaining to age. He noted that while some research has been done into the potential psychological affects of shooters, the risk-encouraging properties of racing games had not yet been formally observed. "Risk-acceptance is one of the most prominent and important factors in the discussion of the origin of accidents caused by young drivers," said Kubitzki. "The question of age restrictions, legally or voluntary, should be discussed not only for 'shooter' games but also for this kind of games, which have an impact on traffic safety." In the United States, attempts to legally restrict the sale of particular games based on their potential behavioral influence have traditionally failed.