So, What Explains Car Accidents Before Videogames?

from the crash dept

It hardly needs repeating that videogames take the blame for many things these days, including violence and obesity. But those things are tired, and increasingly people are looking for new ills that can be attributed to videogames. The hot new one seems to be bad youth driving. Back in January, police blamed the game Need for Speed for an auto accident, because a copy of it was found in the wrecked car. And in the spring, a man used the game Grand Theft Auto as an excuse for thinking he could outrun the cops. Now in New Zealand, the government has responded to a recent fatal car accident involving teenagers by pointing the finger at videogame systems, saying they make teenagers feel "bulletproof" when they drive. Frankly, if you've ever spent a day playing a racing videogame, you might find feel this way for a moment when you get into a car, as your brain adjusts back to reality. But it's hard to imagine that anyone would actually change their driving habits because of a game, unless they were really, well, stupid and reckless. Of course, young drivers have always been known to make stupid and reckless decisions, long before the advent of videogames, just as there has always been violence and obesity too.