Yesterday GamePolitics reported that police in Australia and Winnipeg engaged in a bit of game bashing by relating stolen cars and reckless road behavior to driving games.

Today, the Peterborough Examiner reports that cops in Ontario are using a driving game in a positive way to help educate high school students about the dangers of drunk driving. Officers there have combined an unspecified game with the shell of an automobile to simulate a real-world driving experience. Students then don "beer goggles" which warp one's vision in a manner similar to a state of high intoxication. Sgt. John Ogrodnik commented:

If anyone actually did this they would never want to get behind the wheel of their car (while drunk).

Police in Winnipeg believe that a quartet of youthful offenders were acting out in video game-like fashion by stealing cars and fleeing from pursuing officers.

CBC reports on comments by Sgt. Doug Safioles:

They all play the game, they talk about the game, they tell their probation officers it's a game. It's a huge rush. They taunt the police on purpose to engage in chases.

Safioles, who did not link the teens to a specific game, made similar comments in May. At that time, however, a youth advocate linked the crimes to the region's high level of poverty.

Meanwhile, in Australia, the Daily Telegraph reports that Superintendent Dave Evans of the New South Wales police has blamed video games for a lack of responsibility on the part of teen drivers:

Video games can have a negative impact on young drivers because it increases their complacency and their indulgence in risk-taking behaviour. In games you race, you crash and it is a matter of pressing the buttons and off you go again. In real life it doesn't work that way, you can be killed.

It might seem obvious that rocking out with Guitar Hero: On Tour on your Nintendo DS while cruising down the freeway is not a good idea.

But a cabinet member in Canada wants to make it official. As reported by the St. Catherine's Standard, Transportation Minister Jim Bradley (smiling at left) has introduced a bill to outlaw the use of handheld electronic devices while driving. Among the measure's prohibitions are mobile phones, DVD players and portable video game systems.

Violators would be subject to a $500 fine. Of his proposal, Bradley said:

You should have both hands on the wheel...

Passengers would not be restricted from using portable electronics.

Things are looking up for gray gamers.

First there was the Wii, then there was Brain Age, and now this. A pilot program being tested by Allstate may result in over 50's getting cheaper auto insurance for playing video games.

As reported by the Associated Press, Allstate's InSight program will be tested among 50-75 year-olds in Pennsylvania:

The group's accident rates will be compared to a control group of people who do not play the games. The games are not all specific to driving. They're designed to reverse age-related cognitive decline and improve visual alertness.

 

For example, a game called "Jewel Diver" has players keep track of underwater jewels that pop up on the screen for a moment before they are hidden under fish swimming around. 
 

A Honolulu bus driver has been relieved of his duties for playing a handheld video game while operating the bus. The incident came to light after a concerned passenger shot cell phone video of the man, who can be seen playing what appears to be a light-colored Nintendo DS or PSP.

The driver was placed on unpaid leave while the bus company investigates. The KGMB-9 news report features an interview with Denita Waltz, the passenger who took the video:

The whole experience was terrifying. He was continuously playing his video game on the bus. Continuously. At times he was driving, playing with it. At times he was sitting there playing with it. He was a hazard. He was playing his video game. He was speeding on the highway. He had his legs and feet up on the dashboard.

 

It was a very petrifying moment. And when the bus did stop I kept on telling my son, 'Hurry! Get off the bus. Just get off the bus..

GP: It's a good bet that he wasn't playing Bus Driver.

A member of Great Britain's Parliament had harsh words for Electronic Arts after a marketing stunt for Mercenaries 2 gridlocked her district during the morning rush hour.

Hoping to draw attention to the game, EA gave away £20,000 of fuel at a station in North London. The Telegraph reports on the ensuing traffic jam:

A petrol station which gave away free fuel has been temporarily shut down after motorists flocking to its pumps caused traffic chaos...

 

Norman Tidiman, from Hackney... said: "I saw a girl who stopped because she wasn't going to make the lights, and the man in the car behind her got out his car and started to bully her.

 

Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone (left) was not pleased with EA:

Whilst a lucky few might have got some free petrol, hundreds of local residents have faced misery on their daily journeys this morning. They deserve an apology for being the victims of such an ill-thought out media stunt...

 

Trying to recreate Venezuelan-style fuel riots on the streets of London is completely irresponsible and downright dangerous...

An EA rep told the Telegraph that police ultimately shut the event down as too disruptive. Mercs 2, of course, is set in Venezuela, where petroleum is a huge economic force. As in a similar event held in Los Angeles last week, the station was decorated to match the theme of the game.

The BBC has more, including a video report.

Okay, so a pre-teen probably shouldn't be playing Grand Theft Auto.

But, as MyWebTimes reports, 11-year-old Audrey Plique's GTA gaming sessions may have saved her family's life after their car rolled over on the night of August 27th. Karen Norris, Audrey's mom, explains:

She just knew, from playing 'Grand Theft Auto.' She saw on there that when a car rolls over, it can blow up. She knew that could happen to us...

 

She showed the kind of bravery and courage you don't expect from an 11-year-old. She stayed composed. She sounded upset, but she knew the things she had to get done to help her parents and her siblings.

Audrey was just glad that she was able to save her family. It's unclear whether she saved her progress in GTA.

Via: Kotaku

GP: Thanks to several GP readers who pointed us toward this story. And, why yes, I do suck at PhotoShop...

Over the past week there has been much written about accused Thai killer Polwat Chinno (at left, supposedly re-enacting his crime for investigators).

Police in Bangkok claim Chinno's alleged murder of a taxi driver was sparked by his playing of Grand Theft Auto.

On that score our attention was caught by this excerpt from yesterday's edition of The Telegraph: 

After the stabbing, [Chinno] tried to steal the taxi with the dead driver in the back seat, but did not know how to drive. Neighbours in Soi Jaran Sanitwong in central Bangkok called police after Polwat constantly pressed on the horn as he reversed into a dead end. When police arrived Polwat had locked himself in the car.

...all of which begs the question:

If Grand Theft Auto supposedly trained this 19-year-old man to kill so effectively, how could it be that it didn't train him to drive very effectively? After all, we'd estimate (conservatively) that GTA players spend at least 25% of their game time cruising around the series' open environments in a wide array of vehicles.

The lawyer for a 25-year-old New Zealand man who pleaded guilty to beating a police officer and stealing a patrol car has blamed his client's crime in part on playing Grand Theft Auto - and the judge apparently agreed.

As reported by the Dominion Post, attorney Cris Nicholls argued at the sentencing hearing for Tim Reid that his client's behavior was influenced by the game.

From the news account:

[Reid] committed violent offences and compulsively played Grand Theft Auto. Mr Nicholls said a video game that showed violence toward police was a public safety concern, with the game promoting the behaviour...

 

Wellington District Court judge Denys Barry jailed Reid for five years... He said Reid was hardwired for violence and anti-social behaviour and programmed by his recreational pursuits.

GP: Reid, according to the report, began smoking pot at age five. He had been physically and sexually abused while growing up, and continues to abuse drugs and alcohol. He has priors for assault and robbery. Moreover, he is a 25-year-old man, not an impressionable adolescent.

Yet a video game is to blame?