Judge "troubled" by Gran Turismo in fatal car crash |
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Okay, before we even begin to talk about this, please promise that you guys won't blow up all over the comments in reaction to this story. We've had this discussion in related stories before, and you'll be preaching to the converted anyway.A fatal car crash
A fatal car crash occurred in the UK, details of which are reported in the Times (UK) Online. Two cars were found to have violated speed limits down a road, with one car recklessly overtaking and driving too closely to the other, according to witnesses, and that attempt to overtake in a hazardous bend led the overtaking car to crash head-on into a car driven by an elderly lady, who died at the scene of the crash.
The driver of the overtaking car was found to have been playing Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo in his car (most likely a console GT, as the judge refers to one of those "Pimp My Ride" monitors that pop from the dash) in a layover before going full throttle.
The judge's quotation
What makes this story worrisome - and thus postable - is that there's a British judge in the decision-making loop, which bears implications for future rulings, media coverage, and public policy down the line (at least in the UK, but certain critics of video games will be watching this very closely). The judge in question, said:
One of the troubling features of the case is looking at and playing the game on the PlayStation beforehand, in the sense that he was playing a game involving vehicles of excessive speed immediately before his driving. When I heard he had a monitor screen that would come up from the dashboard of the car whereby he could play on the PlayStation a game of that sort, it didnÂ’t seem to me to be particularly desirable.
Translation: driver, in his car, plays game with excessive speed. Driver then drives and gets into an accident involving excessive speed. Conclusion...
The media and game critics jump in
That's the problem. Conclusions being drawn. The judge was right in the decision ruling that the driver was found guilty of careless driving. He may or may not have directly implied in his ruling that playing Gran Turismo immediately before stepping on the actual gas pedal was one of the (direct or indirect) causes of the accident - we will need to read his full ruling to make that conclusion.But with what he said in the quotation above, conclusions could be drawn by critics of the video game industry, or by mainstream media, for that matter.
For example, The Times article that reported on this story was flamed thrice for "irresponsible journalism." A Guardian Unlimited blog (tied to The Guardian, another UK paper) also criticized The Times, particularly for including a "list of killer video games" suspected as causing or promoting violent crimes, including Manhunt and Bully. These were found to be out of context references - not to mention in the case of Manhunt, where it was seen by members of the press as connected to a murder, police have already discredited the connection.
And Gran Turismo isn't even anywhere close to being bloody, for crying out loud.
The driver was an idiot
See what we mean about conclusions being drawn? Fine, The guy who thought he was the reincarnation of Schumi really was an idiot for driving like that, but having a video game in the car involved really does complicate matters. D*** it, I've played Gran Turismo before getting into the driver's seat of a Civic, but even I'm not that stupid enough to turn the real world into my very own Gran Turismo.
What we really have here is a guy who cannot recognize that he was in no condition to drive, and no judgement behind the wheel - video games or real-life. If you can't amp down, my driving instructor told me, you can't gas up. Between a worried judge and potentially careless reporting, on the other hand, anything can be taken out of context, out of proportion.
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Comments [refresh]
thats what polifony needs another reason why to delay the game. lol!!!!
i bet i could kick his ass in that game anyways.
"The guy who thought he was the reincarnation of Schumi.." LOL!
what a prick
GT is a racing simulator, mimics real life driving on CLOSED COURSES. Its like saying you gto into a car crash as you were driving home after watching F1 cars race.
If this ever gets blamed on GT.
Then people will start blaming crimes because of GTA.
They will never end the attempt to connect video games to violence.
Fact is, Video games do not make people violent. They were violent to begin with.
dump driver... and he is English... what else ?
And you're an Idiot. Before you stereotype and make a bull***** statement, in fact i retract that word 'statement' as it can hardly be called a statement, especially when it is just 8 words strung together with no comprension or cohesion at all. Please be quiet.
Stupid git.
You are calling the English stupid, yet you can't even spell "dumb" properly.
This is just stupid.
I agree with you 10000000% now adays you see racing everywhere and you cant just blame it because you got into a car accident, for all we know he could have been playing while driving or watching something while driving, just another idiot who somehow got his licence.
On both sides of this coin...someone is an idiot for letting GT get to his head, and the judge is an idiot for jumping to conclusions.
Also, I wonder Why the f___k are there videogames and TV's in cars anyways ? Shouldn't you be driving....it's like giving someone a TV or other distraction while they point a gun at random people....
why dont they just blame everything on games..-_-
i can't believe how many people out there who are either too stupid or too weak to let games and media in general to have a meaningful effect on them!
violent games do make people more violent though, but the extent is like, if you play gta:sa 3 hours a day, 7days a week, and you're a regular non-unhinged person, you're more likely to get into like 3 more arguments a month, and to get slightly more steamed up when some idiot cuts you up on the motorway.... not go out and kill someone.
so, the real issue is how and why does society create people who are so irresponsible that they confuse reality with fiction?
i also think shatterdome makes a valid point, why on earth are tvs and videogames even legal in cars?! it's not illegal (at least in the uk) to drive while using your mobile (non-hands free). and that's a bloody phone!
insane
important typo there... it IS illegal to drive while using your phone.
its not in some countries.
that is plausible that he was watching something while driving and that distracted him, or he was PLAYING WHILE DRIVING which is even worse.
however more insight is needed. All in dash screens are connected to the ignition, the screen does not open unless the car is off. so then that can rule out him doing something WHILE driving.
however, its simple to make the screen usable even while driving (just don't wire it to the ignition). So then that raises more questions.
Also, im assmuing they found a PS2 in the wreckage, a controller, and a copy of the game, in order for this to even be plausible.
however, like i always say... video games are not a scapegoat for stupidity.
finally theres people that are smart.
"Video games do not make people violent. They were violent to begin with"
thats a fact right there. people just look to something to use as a scapegoat to take the blame and attention away from them.
its just like how it was in the past when people used to plea insane when a crime was brought upon them (so that they cannot be held accountable for their actions as they were insane when it occurred, they merely half to suffer thru some time in an asylum and then they are home free, easy as that).
its just like it was back then, except now their blaming games to slowly transfer the attention from them.
one word to describe them all.. IDIOTS
so then i guess when the US government finally admits to what happened on 9/11, they will blame video games.
i can see it now....
"ITS NOT OUR FAULT, WE WERE PLAYING MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR AND WE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUN TO RAM A PLANE INTO A BUILDING, SO WE THOUGHT WE WOULD TRY IT IN REAL LIFE SINCE IN THE GAME THE PLANE JUST CRUMBLED UP AND FELL DOWN, AND DINT DAMAGE THE BUILDING!"
Dumb *****ers
I would expect playing a simulator like GT, if it had any impact at all, would actually make the guy a better driver. I seriously doubt he was a very ardent GT player, if he was then he would know that putting a television and vanity s**t into your car just adds weight and hurts performance. :|
Are they sure he was playing GT, and not playing some arcady street racing game? Even if the guy was playing Burnout though, a link between crash and entertainment is extremely unsound. It far more likely that idiot crashed because the he's car was overweight.
that was funny
I played superman all day now I'm going to go jump out a 15th story window and fly! If this is a stupid idea surely there's a law that tells me that, otherwise I'd be forced to think for myself which is unfathomable.
HE PROBABLY THOUGHT HE WOULDNT CRASH, CUZ YOUR CAR DOESNT BREAK IN THE GAME