MotorAuthority

Playing video games could lower your auto insurance rates

Posted Fri Oct 3 2008 11:28 AM by Nelson Ireson

A pilot program currently underway at Allstate could prove gaming enhances driving safety

Video games get a lot of blame for social effects they may or may not deserve, but a new pilot program with insurance company Allstate hopes to prove video games can enhance reflexes and improving driving safety. Targeted at drivers aged 50-75, the program could result in reduced rates for drivers that play the video games.

Allstate is conducting the pilot program to find out for certain, and once the data is collected, it will compare accident rates of drivers that did play the video games to those that did not. It may sound like a teenager's fantasy, but it's pure reality. Unfortunately for those already inclined toward day-long sessions at the computer or video game console, the benefits, and therefore the discounts, won't likely be headed to teenagers' policies any time soon.

The mental benefits of video game playing postulated by the program - enhanced acuity and reversal of age-related cognitive decline - are of primary concern to aging drivers, reports CNN. To gain the benefits, Allstate recommends participants complete a minimum of 10 hours of video-game training. The program is being offered for free to 100,000 drivers in Pennsylvania.

Early results show the mental gains, like the games played, are not necessarily specific to driving, though they do enhance drivers' ability to safely maneuver their car in complex situations. One of the games being used in the program includes a variation on the classic hidden object game known as Three Card Monte - not driving related at all, but designed to improve mental and visual attention faculties as players track a red jewel's location on the screen.

The ultimate goal of the program is to save lives, not money, according to the company, though the encouragement of lower rates is what will likely draw participants in, at least initially.

story Tags:

• Auto Insurance
• Car Insurance
• Driving
• Elder drivers
• Insurance
• Safety
• Video games

Reader Comments

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