Mario Kart might make you a better driver: research

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – When you play Mario Kart, are you usually the first to cross the finish line?

A new study says driving style video games are better at actual driving!

The Association for Psychological Science found that as little as five hours of Mario Kart can make a change in driving skills.

Steve Wallace of Steve Wallace Driving School says it’s got a lot to do with hand-eye coordination.

“The study has just shown that the greater attention to detail, the greater awareness of driving, the better a person is going to be,” explains Wallace. “It’s natural that anything that they do that has anything to do with the driving task is going to make them better and give them a greater appreciation of what’s up.”

Using video games as a tool to build those skills can be a safe alternative for people who have never been exposed to cars or driving.

“It’s a lot about exposure, and a lot about the hand-eye coordination, but it’s also about assessing the risks and knowing that in that game you can crash and nobody dies.”

Wallace says we need to keep in mind that when we crash in the game, we get a second chance. If we crash in real life, we end up in the hospital.

It’s not only video games that can help build up what Wallace calls “relative experience”.

“Any time you get a duplication of the driving act, you will get someone with relative experience…and appreciation for the task,” shares Wallace.

“You get someone who’s had a wagon when they were a kid, or they got a skateboard, or anything with wheels on it, or any exposure to anything that’s moving in a vehicle pattern, they learn quicker.”