Do ‘Fast and Furious’ Movies Cause a Rise in Speeding?

"Fast and furious" auto commercials showing packs of the latest models careering up hill, down dale, and around blind ess curves probably do more. They run any time of the day, every day of the year.

This evidence comes as no surprise. I saw "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior" in Aspen, Colorado when it was shown in the summer of 1981. Small town, small theater, affluent young people in a recreational culture. The images of relentless speed and hostility in the movie were beyond what most of the attendees had ever seen. I can assure you that when people walked from the theater to their cars on that warm summer night, the exhibition of automotive speed continued, albeit with less hostility. Never underestimate the power of moving pictures...

Clinical studies also show that people experiencing major depression watch more TV. I have yet to see data proving causal effect. My professional guess (I am a Clinical Therapist) is that marketing which continually reminds you of what is (theoretically) wrong with you, plus the typical negative bias of news reporting will reduce hope of getting better. The degree of someone's hopefullness is a proven indicator of how likely a depressed person is of recovering.

Having been a driver in Montana back in the day when the only speed limit was reasonable and prudent, as well as been to driving school and driven overseas in Germany, it is not speed that kills, it is the driver's skills. What irks me more is why do people buy a vehicle specifically based on horsepower and speed. Other than an ego boost, you will rarely have a place to use all that power and for a very small percentage of time. A vehicle just needs to be reliable and get either people or cargo from place to place. Speed is not necessary.

The danger of the FnF franchise is that -- unlike, say, the Avengers, who generally find themselves in situations/conflicts beyond normal human experience -- the stunts and general spirit of these movies are ones that can easily be tried at home. A majority of us have cars. A tragic reflection of the fact that the daredevil speed celebrated in these movies can creep into real life, despite best intentions, is the death of its star Paul Walker in a crash that couldn't have been more like a heart-wrenching plot twist in his own movie.

Yes, the movies spawned some dumb looking cars and bad driving behavior. In the Portland, OR area I use to refer to them as 'cockroach cars' as they were like bugs flicking from one lane to another with a pathetic exhaust whine. It seemed to die down after awhile. I'm not necessarily against high speeds, my wife is German and when visiting some of her friends we were often doing around 125 mph on the highway; just middle aged ladies driving normally in Germany. In Spain before all of the traffic cameras went up I use to cruise at about the same speeds on a BMW motorcycle, and I had to move over for the faster traffic. I drove sport bikes for over 20 years in SoCal and collected a fair number of speeding tickets on the highway. As the years went by I slowed down in more and more situations, too many close calls with toilets in the road, deer crossing, people taking up half of my lane while I was leaned over, etc. In the car I'll keep up with traffic but speeding seems pointless as it really isn’t high speed. Talking with some Ferrari enthusiasts they would travel in a group spread out, with someone up front checking for police and radar, allowing others to open it up. A friend has an AWD Porsche and it has impressive performance, unlike my Subaru Impreza and Dodge diesel pickup.

Did Steve McQueen's Mustang driving in 1968's ''Bullitt'' make people drive faster? Of course, we were more mature and responsible at younger ages then.

Sure, and doing laundry raises incidents of tide pod ingestion.

Cool study. I'd still be somewhat concerned about selection. If people who already have a preference for fast driving are attracted to the movie, they are also likely to be driving more miles on those weekends. Hence the effect you are seeing may not be that the movie causes people to drive faster but rather that it causes fast drivers to drive more. Nevertheless, if I had to guess, I would say that the effect is probably due mostly to the former.

It would be great to see the statistics behind people flocking to gun-em-down, shoot-em-up movies, and people like Stephen Paddock's desire to kill as many as possible with bullets, but sadly...the NRA won't allow us. I wonder why not?

I grew up in the 50's and early 60's so I recall sitting in front of the TV watching all my favorite western s and occasionally popping off shots with my Fanner 50's or some other imitation 6 shooter. I wore my guns until they broke. But is was clear then and now, movies and TV create, inflate and cause watchers to think them relections of reality. It is not at all surprising dunces think all the world's issues are amenable to fast cars and lotsa guns. But, once I rode in a car-an old 1958 Olds 88, going at 95 MPH on a two lane interstate, I never wanted to try it again. Aside from the rattling and rocking-this was before lap belts, no car or human can recover from a mistake faster then the time it takes nerve impulses to get to the brain and then back, in reaction. Much slower then a fast car. SO the faster a car goes, the less possible it is to survive even a minor driving error.

I clearly remember flying out of the theater parking lot after watching “Bullitt” in 1968. My little red Opal Cadet became (for an adrenaline filled moment ) Steve McQueen’s mustang. My sixteen year old self didn’t hurt anyone that night - thank god. Months later I totaled that little red Opal; and, once again, escaped serious harm. Since then I have usually driven like a grownup.

I drive 95mph, but don't watch the movies. The movies are popular, because there's a big car culture and speed culture in parts of the USA. Go listen to Little Deuce Coupe by the Beach Boys.

I’m surprised its not mentioned that the leading actor in the ‘Fast and the Furious’ series (Paul Walker) died in a car wreck going 100mph on a city street. Anecdotal, but relevant.

I live in West L.A. and it's not just the influence of the movies but the cars themselves, i.e. Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, high-end BMWs, etc., that are equipped to create maximum noise. It's the need to hear their engines roar, or whine, or belch, to hear the blast bounce back from our apartment buildings, that inspires the speed. Wilshire Blvd., and other nearby streets, are turned into high-end drag-strips every late night. Yes, it also seems to be that the drivers want to be in one of those movies, so let's call it the Fast and Furious Effect - but the real blame has to be laid on the car-makers.

I'm sure they do. But some of the stated statistics being used are shady in my book. "we found that the speeds people were given tickets for increased almost 20 percent, to an average of 19 miles per hour over the speed limit, from 16 miles per hour. " The delta between the deltas? Don't think so. Of course the 20% makes it sound like a huge thing. But people get tagged for speeding based on their TOTAL speed. What if the base speed limit was 55mph? In the above case it would actually be just over 4% difference.

I suspect the movies have some influence, back in the day movies like "Gone in 60 seconds' and before that "Smokey and the Bandit" likely influenced some to drive aggressively. That said, though, this sounds a bit too much like those that claimed my generation, that grew up on Bugs Bunny cartoons and the like, were gonna drop anvils on people's heads and cut off the cat's head and wonder why it didn't grow back (hint, that story is an urban myth). Likewise, claims that violent tv programming led to violent behavior when studied turned out to be inconclusive, and kids who grew up with it didn't turn into homicidal monsters. In the 1920's the morality police claimed movies were going to create an anarchistic, immoral society, those who grew up in the 1920's became the 1940's generation revered these days......in the 1920's and 30's claims were that Jazz music was gonna turn everyone into licentious drug users and sex fiends (bit racist, don't you think?), and it didn't. To be honest, there are so many crazy drivers out there, who have access to cars today where an econobox could blow out more than a few muscle cars of the past, and a lot more drivers, and I think that is something to look out for, more than the influence of a movie.

Hasn't this subject become sort of tired? As the article states causation becomes murky when trying to determine something like this. A movie isn't going to cause someone who doesn't speed to drift on S-turns. However a Fast and Furious premiere will certainly attract those with a proclivity for reckless driving. Painting with a broad brush is irresponsible, and as a society we've attacked movies, music, art, and video games to point to an easy target. Art imitates life, not the other way around. There would be just as many reckless and violent people regardless of these mediums.

Without a doubt! Just like in 2018, when people read or see something often enough, they tend to embrace it, such movies create an aura! Seeing cars go fast in movies tends to legitimize the action! While on the screen a discerning adult knows it’s really all fantasy, these movies are so slick, that many people would think those actions can be acceptable and logical in real life! Be careful out there! Sad.

Seeing as almost all car commercials show cars speeding, why is that movies cause the problem? I believe it is our "I can do anything" society that is to fault.

Or maybe the results of the study show that drivers who like to speed also enjoy going to see movies that feature dangerous driving. That would certainly increase their presence "within two miles" of the theater. Perhaps "moviegoers who do some dangerously fast and furious driving themselves" like "watching Dom Toretto (played by Vin Diesel) and crew streak across movie screens". The researchers indicate that they are aware of the problem of concluding causality from correlation and then seemingly ignore it. Maybe the police could engage in some "pre-emptive enforcement" by ticketing everyone who emerged from the theater. They would be certain to catch a fair number of future offenders.

I've been saying for a long time that the generations growing up on video games and movies like the F and F franchise drive like they are making movies. Movies that feature car crashes. One would think they would make the connection.

One question. Realizing, as you stated, that officers increased traffic patrols near theaters during the movies' releases, did the discretionary actions of the officers to increase patrols also lead to them increasing the writing of tickets during those same periods? If I believe that a specific type of movie has the potential to draw a certain demographic and I choose to increase patrols with the intent to write tickets, doesn't my conscious decision to do so possibly skew results? It may not be about more speeders but about my intentional action to catch more speeders during that period. For what it's worth.

The also reinforce and contribute to a trend in mind-bogglingly stupid cosmetic vehicle modifications, like Civic EXs with massive spoilers and offensive exhausts.

I have not seen the series but generally if films in this genre are done on closed streets no problem but the more real they are made to look re regular public streets the more dangerous it is, ie not meant for controlled action but for mayhem on the general roadways.

I have been thinking about this for a while now. Every day, I witness more and more drivers along the West Side Highway in Manhattan taking dangerous risks and endangering other commuters by changing lanes unsafely and without signaling, tailgating, and moving at ridiculously high speeds whenever possible. Some of these people are middle-aged men, not merely young adults and teenagers. It's become more and more frightening. I'd like to see a larger police presence on that highway.

Of course these movies contribute to a rise in speeding and a whole host of other behaviors. But since when do the Hollywood Hypocrites care? As long as they make a buck.