Kingsbridge

Britain's roads are being plagued by a generation of "game boy racers" who are driving recklessly after playing computer driving games, a report has warned.

Over one third of young drivers say they are more likely to drive faster on roads shortly after indulging in on-screen driving action, while a quarter admit they take greater driving risks after a gaming session.

The study, by driving school BSM, shows nearly a quarter 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 16-24 year olds playing driving simulation games at least once a week, and 6 per cent 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 per cent and 15 per cent, 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 per cent vs. 16 per cent).

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.

Robin Cummins, BSM's road safety consultant, said: "Accredited driving simulators can be a really useful tool in enhancing driving skills such as observation, confidence and reaction times.

Gavin Ogden, CVG: "Driving games continue to be enormously popular with young British gamers - but although they may be more realistic than ever, they don't bear much relation to real-life road conditions."

"And in the case of our simulators, they offer a safe environment for young people to try their hand at driving before they're 17.

"But it's important that their use goes hand in hand with real on-road experience, and drivers should be careful not to get caught up in a virtual driving world.

"Making an adrenalin-charged move in a game may impact on your score, but doing so on the road can carry far greater consequences."

The survey also found that 54 per cent of frequent players pass their driving test on the first attempt, compared to 45 per cent of infrequent gamers.

Over one third of young drivers think that gaming can improve real-life driving.

Two in five youngsters believe their reflex reactions are likely to be better after playing a driving game.

And nearly 40 per cent believe gaming helps improve hand-to-eye coordination.

Gavin Ogden, editor of CVG, the UK's longest running computer games publication, added: "Driving games continue to be enormously popular with young British gamers - but although they may be more realistic than ever, they don't bear much relation to real-life road conditions.

"In fact, some of the most popular motoring games actually warn users not to apply any driving techniques from the game to real life - because the consequences of doing so could be fatal."

The article Video games encourage dangerous driving originally appeared on 999 Today