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Racing games 'breed' bad drivers

Reply from: cowoffunk
Date: 19 Mar 2007, 14:01
Racing games 'breed' bad drivers

http :// news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6457353.stm



Reply from: Asgeir Nesoen
Date: 19 Mar 2007, 14:23
Re: Racing games 'breed' bad drivers

Young people are influenced more easily than older people, and racing
games can influence young drivers, of course it can. So can movies,
commercials, televized races, parents driving badly, and a lot of other
things.

You can't ban sim racing on this basis either, just like you can't ban
hammers because you CAN use it to kill someone.

So we end up where we started: Yes, racing sims may affect young peoples
judgment, but there is nothing we can do about that.

If I have learnt anything from sims it is the opposite of what this
study suggests; racing is something that needs to be performed under
near ideal conditions and among like-minded people. Racing requires such
a staggering amount of concentration that makes it near impossible to
emply racing techniques on public roads.

I would think that youngsters will eventually learn how to cope with
computer games, being able to separate the worlds completely.

I remember one of the extremely fast guys back in the GP2 Racing League
times who was a teenager at that time, started racing karts; he went off
and flipped over so badly that he spent weeks in plaster on his first
outing: So, you learn how to cope with the real world eventually, hehe.

---A---

On 19.03.2007 14:01, cowoffunk wrote:
> http :// news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6457353.stm
>
>

Reply from: Ed Medlin
Date: 19 Mar 2007, 16:35
Re: Racing games 'breed' bad drivers


"Asgeir Nesoen" <asgeir.nesoen@hf.uio.no> wrote in message
news:etm2t5$vqb$1@readme.uio.no...
> Young people are influenced more easily than older people, and racing
> games can influence young drivers, of course it can. So can movies,
> commercials, televized races, parents driving badly, and a lot of other
> things.
>
> You can't ban sim racing on this basis either, just like you can't ban
> hammers because you CAN use it to kill someone.
>
> So we end up where we started: Yes, racing sims may affect young peoples
> judgment, but there is nothing we can do about that.
>
> If I have learnt anything from sims it is the opposite of what this study
> suggests; racing is something that needs to be performed under near ideal
> conditions and among like-minded people. Racing requires such a staggering
> amount of concentration that makes it near impossible to emply racing
> techniques on public roads.
>
> I would think that youngsters will eventually learn how to cope with
> computer games, being able to separate the worlds completely.
>
> I remember one of the extremely fast guys back in the GP2 Racing League
> times who was a teenager at that time, started racing karts; he went off
> and flipped over so badly that he spent weeks in plaster on his first
> outing: So, you learn how to cope with the real world eventually, hehe.
>
> ---A---

I pretty much agree with most of your reply. One fact to realize is that
the vast majority of the younger crowd has had no formal racing experience
at all. I remember an instructor in SCCA driving school when talking about
overtaking saying that when overtaking another car, always assume that the
driver is going to make the most dumb @#$$ed move you can imagine......:-).
Now, 40+ years later this still relates to normal driving. I always assume
that every car out there is going to do the dumbest thing I can imagine and
it relates to me being a much better driver. I would think that virtual
racing would improve reaction times and possibly a bit of knowledge of the
physics of an automobile, but as far as the psycological part of taking it
to the streets...I don't know. I would think that most of the younger folks
realize that this is just a virtual world and not do that. I think that the
BBC article is probably more about the street racing games like NFS rather
than actual racing simulations.

Ed



Reply from: pdotson@mindspring,com
Date: 19 Mar 2007, 16:42
Re: Racing games 'breed' bad drivers

One thing I find when I put kids on my racing simulator - especially
kids who have only played NFS-type games, is that they have no concept
of having to slow down for a turn. They think you can just go full-
throttle all the time. I doubt very many would take this attitude
into real life driving, but some probably would.

I let my 13 year old nephew and 11 year old son try the F430 mod at
Monaco over the weekend. In both cases they actually did a pretty
good job. But it was still difficult to get them to slow down enough
to go through the turns properly.

Pat Dotson


Reply from: Tim Wheatley
Date: 19 Mar 2007, 17:00
Re: Racing games 'breed' bad drivers

On Mar 19, 10:42 am, pdot...@mindspring,com wrote:
> One thing I find when I put kids on my racing simulator - especially
> kids who have only played NFS-type games, is that they have no concept
> of having to slow down for a turn. They think you can just go full-
> throttle all the time. I doubt very many would take this attitude
> into real life driving, but some probably would.
>
> I let my 13 year old nephew and 11 year old son try the F430 mod at
> Monaco over the weekend. In both cases they actually did a pretty
> good job. But it was still difficult to get them to slow down enough
> to go through the turns properly.
>
> Pat Dotson

That's absolutely what this is about, you're right. There is a vast
difference between a racing game and a racing simulator. The "bounce
off the walls", public road style of racing between "innocent
motorists" versus the closed track competition in a sim where all the
traffic is moving in the same direction and the objective is to finish
well and race well, rather than cause the most amount of damage. When
you have games like Burnout giving monitary totals for each wreck and
glorifying them in slow motion "matrix" style camera modes, of course
kids are going to think they have superb skills when they manage to
weave through the traffic for a whole lap...

I wrote a piece about this earlier today in my blog.
http :// www .timwheatley.org/2007/03/19/racing-games-make-more-dangerous-drivers/


Reply from: Alan Bernardo
Date: 19 Mar 2007, 20:52
Re: Racing games 'breed' bad drivers


<pdotson@mindspring,com > wrote in message
news:1174318934.329695.261420@l75g2000hse.googlegroups,com ...
> One thing I find when I put kids on my racing simulator - especially
> kids who have only played NFS-type games, is that they have no concept
> of having to slow down for a turn. They think you can just go full-
> throttle all the time. I doubt very many would take this attitude
> into real life driving, but some probably would.
>
> I let my 13 year old nephew and 11 year old son try the F430 mod at
> Monaco over the weekend. In both cases they actually did a pretty
> good job. But it was still difficult to get them to slow down enough
> to go through the turns properly.
>
> Pat Dotson
>

It's BS to think that kids-- no matter how stupid-- would actually think
that sim driving habits would transfer over to real driving success (i.e.,
no accidents, etc.).

Sounds to me like someone is making some wild claims in order to get people
to read something.

Alanb




Reply from: Tim Wheatley
Date: 20 Mar 2007, 00:29
Re: Racing games 'breed' bad drivers

On Mar 19, 2:52 pm, "Alan Bernardo" <pol...@yalta,com > wrote:
> <pdot...@mindspring,com > wrote in message
>
> news:1174318934.329695.261420@l75g2000hse.googlegroups,com ...
>
> > One thing I find when I put kids on my racing simulator - especially
> > kids who have only played NFS-type games, is that they have no concept
> > of having to slow down for a turn. They think you can just go full-
> > throttle all the time. I doubt very many would take this attitude
> > into real life driving, but some probably would.
>
> > I let my 13 year old nephew and 11 year old son try the F430 mod at
> > Monaco over the weekend. In both cases they actually did a pretty
> > good job. But it was still difficult to get them to slow down enough
> > to go through the turns properly.
>
> > Pat Dotson
>
> It's BS to think that kids-- no matter how stupid-- would actually think
> that sim driving habits would transfer over to real driving success (i.e.,
> no accidents, etc.).
>
> Sounds to me like someone is making some wild claims in order to get people
> to read something.
>
> Alanb

Lots of kids have undiagnosed mental problems. This isn't too far out
of the realms of belief. It's not so much believing there is no
consequence, it's about them believing they have skills that they
don't. I remember 10 years ago when I was that age hearing people
saying their reflexes and stuff were so much better because of games
and how cool that was...


Reply from: Alan Bernardo
Date: 21 Mar 2007, 14:49
Re: Racing games 'breed' bad drivers


"Tim Wheatley" <tim.wheatley@gmail,com > wrote in message
news:1174346970.079178.298930@e1g2000hsg.googlegroups,com ...
> On Mar 19, 2:52 pm, "Alan Bernardo" <pol...@yalta,com > wrote:
>> <pdot...@mindspring,com > wrote in message
>>
>> news:1174318934.329695.261420@l75g2000hse.googlegroups,com ...
>>
>> > One thing I find when I put kids on my racing simulator - especially
>> > kids who have only played NFS-type games, is that they have no concept
>> > of having to slow down for a turn. They think you can just go full-
>> > throttle all the time. I doubt very many would take this attitude
>> > into real life driving, but some probably would.
>>
>> > I let my 13 year old nephew and 11 year old son try the F430 mod at
>> > Monaco over the weekend. In both cases they actually did a pretty
>> > good job. But it was still difficult to get them to slow down enough
>> > to go through the turns properly.
>>
>> > Pat Dotson
>>
>> It's BS to think that kids-- no matter how stupid-- would actually think
>> that sim driving habits would transfer over to real driving success
>> (i.e.,
>> no accidents, etc.).
>>
>> Sounds to me like someone is making some wild claims in order to get
>> people
>> to read something.
>>
>> Alanb
>
> Lots of kids have undiagnosed mental problems. This isn't too far out
> of the realms of belief. It's not so much believing there is no
> consequence, it's about them believing they have skills that they
> don't. I remember 10 years ago when I was that age hearing people
> saying their reflexes and stuff were so much better because of games
> and how cool that was...
>

Certainly. Kids or adults who have undiagnosed mental problems, as you say,
can be effected by a chirping bird. But to say that simulation driving
games or driving games in general can produce bad drivers is absurd.

Alan



Reply from: pdotson@mindspring,com
Date: 20 Mar 2007, 05:12
Re: Racing games 'breed' bad drivers

On Mar 19, 2:52 pm, "Alan Bernardo" <pol...@yalta,com > wrote:
> <pdot...@mindspring,com > wrote in message
>
> > One thing I find when I put kids on my racing simulator - especially
> > kids who have only played NFS-type games, is that they have no concept
> > of having to slow down for a turn. They think you can just go full-
> > throttle all the time. I doubt very many would take this attitude
> > into real life driving, but some probably would.
>
> It's BS to think that kids-- no matter how stupid-- would actually think
> that sim driving habits would transfer over to real driving success (i.e.,
> no accidents, etc.).
>
> Sounds to me like someone is making some wild claims in order to get people
> to read something.

I agree with the wild claims part. The story is a bunch of BS.
But...

Not sure if your first comments were directed at my response at all.
I can give you a concrete personal example on this very topic: Last
year I bought a Yamaha TTR 90 trail bike for my kids to ride. The
bike has three forward gears. It was a big deal for my kids when I
let them switch to the next higher gear as they got used to riding.

Our first time out at a riding area my 13 year old step daughter was
begging to go into third gear. Well, going fast is easy, just turn
the throttle. It's slowing down that is harder. At the end of the
longest straight was a 90 degree left turn. If you miss the turn you
go straight into the woods. Not 10 minutes went by after telling her
'NO' to third gear when she went screaming past us in third gear
heading straight for the trees. She went way too deep and had no idea
how to get the bike slowed down at that point. Luckily, she grabbed a
handful of front brake and the front wheel washed out. She went down
before getting to the turn.

All this excitement was followed by a trip to the emergency room to
confirm a broken collar bone. She/We got off easy!

The point being, she thought I was an idiot for thinking that she
wasn't capable of going faster. She had no appreciation for the
consequences. That'll teach her :)

I don't know how old you are Alan, or if you have kids, but there is
no telling what kind of stupid crap they will pull no matter how much
they are warned and taught. I let my kids play NFS on the XBox. No
big deal to me. The best thing you can do is let them get some
experience on a motorized vehicle, be it a motorcycle, karts, or
whatever, before they ever hit the streets in a car.

Pat Dotson


Reply from: Uwe Schürkamp
Date: 20 Mar 2007, 10:48
Re: Racing games 'breed' bad drivers

On 19 Mar 2007 21:12:18 -0700, pdotson@mindspring,com wrote:

> Not sure if your first comments were directed at my response at all.
> I can give you a concrete personal example on this very topic: Last
> year I bought a Yamaha TTR 90 trail bike for my kids to ride. The
> bike has three forward gears. It was a big deal for my kids when I
> let them switch to the next higher gear as they got used to riding.
>
<snip>

> The point being, she thought I was an idiot for thinking that she
> wasn't capable of going faster. She had no appreciation for the
> consequences. That'll teach her :)


May I suggest you were an idiot for buying your kids a freaking
motorcycle in the first place??? Don't know about you, but in my day and
age, we were content riding our bicycles around the park and making
"vroommm vroomm" noises ;-)

Cheers, uwe


ps: two kids here (7 and 16), nothing worse than a broken arm from
falling off a tree so far (/knocks on wood ;-)

--
GPG Fingerprint: 2E 13 20 22 9A 3F 63 7F 67 6F E9 B1 A8 36 A4 61

Reply from: pdotson@mindspring,com
Date: 20 Mar 2007, 15:26
Re: Racing games 'breed' bad drivers

On Mar 20, 5:48 am, Uwe Schürkamp <hoo...@hoover.dyndns.org> wrote:
> May I suggest you were an idiot for buying your kids a freaking
> motorcycle in the first place???

No. You may not! :)

My seven year boy old does really well on that 90. My two 11 year old
boys haven't had any problem either. All three of them play NFS on
the Xbox 360. It probably has a lot do with my having coached them in
baseball and other sports. They are used to following my directions
to some extent.

On the other hand, my step-daugher, who to my knowledge has never
played NFS, is the only one who has had a problem with it. I think it
has more to do with being a stubborn teen-age girl than playing/not
playing video games!

I hope you weren't serious about thinking it's a mistake to put a kid
on a motorcycle. I don't see anything wrong with it at all. One
thing I'm not going to let them do is race karts which I've done for
several years, but I am thinking of putting them in a 1/4 midget car
this year.

Pat Dotson


Reply from: Tim Wheatley
Date: 20 Mar 2007, 15:28
Re: Racing games 'breed' bad drivers

On Mar 20, 4:48 am, Uwe Schürkamp <hoo...@hoover.dyndns.org> wrote:
> May I suggest you were an idiot for buying your kids a freaking
> motorcycle in the first place??? Don't know about you, but in my day and
> age, we were content riding our bicycles around the park and making
> "vroommm vroomm" noises ;-)

Showing your age there Uwe. Now everybody knows you grew up before
they invented the powered motorcar. ;-)


Reply from: Mr. Sylvestre
Date: 22 Mar 2007, 04:40
Re: Racing games 'breed' bad drivers

Tim Wheatley wrote:
> On Mar 20, 4:48 am, Uwe Schürkamp <hoo...@hoover.dyndns.org> wrote:
>> May I suggest you were an idiot for buying your kids a freaking
>> motorcycle in the first place??? Don't know about you, but in my day and
>> age, we were content riding our bicycles around the park and making
>> "vroommm vroomm" noises ;-)
>
> Showing your age there Uwe. Now everybody knows you grew up before
> they invented the powered motorcar. ;-)

Uwe,

I think you should have a look at this:

http :// www ,fr eepatentsonline,com /20030102648.html

Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Mr. Sylvestre

Reply from: Uwe Schürkamp
Date: 22 Mar 2007, 11:22
Re: Racing games 'breed' bad drivers

On 20 Mar 2007 07:28:38 -0700, Tim Wheatley wrote:

> Showing your age there Uwe. Now everybody knows you grew up before
> they invented the powered motorcar. ;-)
>

touche ;-) It would seem that what this age needs is kids on bikes and
pushbikes, not on fuel-burning motorcycles, but I guess that's a matter
of taste and cultural background, too.

Oh yeah, and bare-footed, uphill, both ways, in the blizzard, at night.
Now get off my lawn!!! ;-)

Cheers, uwe

--
GPG Fingerprint: 2E 13 20 22 9A 3F 63 7F 67 6F E9 B1 A8 36 A4 61

Reply from: mcewena
Date: 21 Mar 2007, 21:32
Re: Racing games 'breed' bad drivers

On Mar 19, 3:52 pm, "Alan Bernardo" <pol...@yalta,com > wrote:
> <pdot...@mindspring,com > wrote in message
>
> news:1174318934.329695.261420@l75g2000hse.googlegroups,com ...
>
> > One thing I find when I put kids on my racing simulator - especially
> > kids who have only played NFS-type games, is that they have no concept
> > of having to slow down for a turn. They think you can just go full-
> > throttle all the time. I doubt very many would take this attitude
> > into real life driving, but some probably would.
>
> > I let my 13 year old nephew and 11 year old son try the F430 mod at
> > Monaco over the weekend. In both cases they actually did a pretty
> > good job. But it was still difficult to get them to slow down enough
> > to go through the turns properly.
>
> > Pat Dotson
>
> It's BS to think that kids-- no matter how stupid-- would actually think
> that sim driving habits would transfer over to real driving success (i.e.,
> no accidents, etc.).
>
> Sounds to me like someone is making some wild claims in order to get people
> to read something.
>
> Alanb

But on the reverse side in Winnipeg Man, there's apparently an rash of
kids stealing cars to go hunting joggers (opening the passenger door
to hit them as they drive by), one guys' in a coma. Dollars to
donuts it's somethign they learned from a console game and wanted to
try it for real.



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Thread:
   Ed Medlin
     Tim Wheatley
     Alan Bernardo
      Tim Wheatley
       Alan Bernardo
       Uwe Schürkamp
        pdotson@mindspring,c...
        Tim Wheatley
         Mr. Sylvestre
         Uwe Schürkamp
      mcewena
       mcewena
       Alan Bernardo
     Phil Newnham
   Ed Medlin
     Ed Medlin