Video games and car crashes examined

Thrashing a top-of-the-range, high performance sports car through busy city streets, running over pedestrians, ramming other vehicles and jumping red lights might seem like harmless computer game fun, but research has found that video game junkies are more likely to be involved in car crashes in the real world.

It's been found that people who get their kicks playing racing games are more likely to drive aggressively when they get out on to the road, meaning more road accidents and a greater chance of being the subject of a car accident compensation claim.

This discovery came to light following a study by German psychologists at Munich's Ludwig-Maximilians University involving 290 randomly chosen participants aged between 16 and 45. The individuals were quizzed about their driving habits, the number of car accidents they had been involved in and also the amount of time they spent playing driving games.

It was discovered that men are far more likely than women to allow their video gaming to affect their driving when out on the roads, taking risks and exposing themselves to road accidents. In contrast, those that spend very little time racing imaginary cars are generally more cautious drivers and so have fewer car crashes.

The researchers conducting the investigation related their findings to a previous study which found that people who spend a significant amount of time playing 'shoot-em up' games are increasingly aggressive in real life.

Car Accident Advice Line hit the streets
Here at Car Accident Advice Line, our no win, no fee road accident compensation claim experts were intrigued by the findings of the German research and so we decided to send our resident news reporter out to a Portsmouth amusement arcade to see what video game fans thought of the issue.

One youngster who was tearing around the virtual streets of Los Angeles in what looked like a souped-up and slightly battered taxi cab paused from mowing down pedestrians and crashing into lampposts to deny that his computer game recklessness transferred onto the real roads of the UK.

He said, "I know it's just a game but I'm so gangsta [good] that it probably does help me drive better. Not that I drive like this when I'm out cruising though, innit."

His girlfriend seemed to disagree somewhat and told our car accident claim expert, "When he's been down the arcades he always drives like a loon on the way home. He thinks he's Schumacher or Senna or something."

This was furiously denied by the baseball-capped teen but the way he wheel-spun his blacked-out Nova away from the amusement arcade after spending all his pound coins indicated that there might actually have been some truth in what she had said.

The findings of the Munich-based psychologists who carried out the study into car accidents and video games also seem to back up the girlfriend's allegations. They wrote, "Driving actions in these games often include competitive and reckless driving, speeding and crashing into other cars or pedestrians, or performing risky stunts with the vehicle.

"In short, most actions in racing games imply a very high risk of having an accident or severe crash in a highly realistic virtual road traffic environment.

"Risk-acceptance is one of the most prominent and important factors in the discussion of the origin of accidents caused by young drivers."

Make a car accident compensation claim today
If you've been hurt in car accident that was somebody else's fault, whether or not it was caused by video game-induced driving, you could be in a position to make a car accident compensation claim with us.

Here at Car Accident Advice Line we're the no win, no fee personal injury compensation claim experts and will never charge you a single penny to make a road accident claim.

We've got a brilliant success rate and all the compensation you win will be yours to keep. That's right, we won't deduct anything for ourselves as all the costs and fees will be claimed back from the other side. Even if you lose, which is highly unlikely when you make a claim through Car Accident Advice Line, all the costs and fees will be written off so you still won't have to pay a thing.

To find out more, talk to one of our no win, no fee compensation claim specialists today by requesting a phone call, chatting online or by simply picking up the phone and calling us any time of the day or night on 0808 143 43 42.