A recent study by the good people at Contiental Tires has concluded that players of racing games are more likely to take risks, run red lights, and be stopped by police than non-gamers (which I guess means they are bad at Need For Speed games)They surveyed 2,000 drivers for the study and asked them to evaluate themselves. Of those surveyed, 31% of the gamers admitted that they have run a red light in the past year, slightly more than double the 14% non-gamers who admitted the same behavior.
30% of gamers indicated that they have made a claim for at least one accident, compared to 15% of non-gamers. More alarmingly, 44% of gamers admitted that they take risks while driving (such as accelerating too quickly or overtaking other drivers) compared to 21% of non-gamers who believed they acted this way.
“It seems that while gamers develop useful skills and are more confident, they need to apply some balance with a sensible assessment of risk,” Continental Tires’ Tim Bailey said.
On the plus side for gamers, data has shown that they need fewer attempts on average to pass their driving tests than their non-gaming counterparts. Non-gamers on average need to take the driving test 3 times before passing it, while gamers usually pass it on their second time.
Another way to take this study is that gamers could also be more likely to tell the truth then non-gamers or that risky drivers prefer to play videogames than non-risky drivers.
Joshman
This of course, probably doesn’t apply to the gamers of the MOBA genre, whom know everything there is to know about risk assessment.