We may have finally discovered the cure for parental anxiety over teenage driving. No, it’s not Xanax, Prozac, or any other kind of human tranquilizer. It’s video games.
A recent study from scientists at the University of Rochester, published in Current Biology, reveals that video gamers have better reaction times than non-gamers, making them better drivers.
Researchers took people who played at least five hours of action-type games per week and tested them alongside people without consistent video game experience. In tests where participants had to assess the movements of tiny dots on a screen and locate sounds within white noise, video gamers came out on top.
To be sure that the video gamers weren’t just inherently more adept at reacting, the non-gamers went through a fifty-hour video game training program. They were then put through the same tests and performed with the same level of success, just at a 25-percent faster rate.
“The researchers conclude,” The Economist said, “that video-games players develop an enhanced sensitivity to what is going on around them and that this may help with activities such as multitasking, driving, reading small print, navigation and keeping track of friends or children in a crowd.”
In addition to being great drivers, these guys should theoretically be the most productive people in the world. Instead, they spend all day playing video games.