With March Madness kicking off and the NBA and NHL playoffs right around the corner, many of you will be glued to their TV screens watching epic games. A warning, though: engaging matchups in sports may result in greater driving dangers for fans of the winning team, researchers say.
Stacy Wood of North Carolina State University and Melayne McInnes of the University of South Carolina conducted their own little study by comparing traffic fatalities with exciting basketball and football games over the last eight years. They discovered that, after a close game, fatal car crashes in the winning team's hometown were over 130 percent higher than when the win was a complete blowout.
Previous research has shown that sustained increased levels of testosterone during competitive games not only trigger aggressive driving, which is a major player in traffic fatalities, but could also cause aggressive post-game drinking. However, when their favourite team loses, the hormone quickly drops down.
In places like South America and Europe, authorities keep the winning fans inside the stadium for at least 45 minutes after the game to prevent parking lot riots. According to Stacy Wood, this allows fans to cool off as their testosterone levels go back to normal.
Source: Live Science
Stacy Wood of North Carolina State University and Melayne McInnes of the University of South Carolina conducted their own little study by comparing traffic fatalities with exciting basketball and football games over the last eight years. They discovered that, after a close game, fatal car crashes in the winning team's hometown were over 130 percent higher than when the win was a complete blowout.
Previous research has shown that sustained increased levels of testosterone during competitive games not only trigger aggressive driving, which is a major player in traffic fatalities, but could also cause aggressive post-game drinking. However, when their favourite team loses, the hormone quickly drops down.
In places like South America and Europe, authorities keep the winning fans inside the stadium for at least 45 minutes after the game to prevent parking lot riots. According to Stacy Wood, this allows fans to cool off as their testosterone levels go back to normal.
Source: Live Science