Quite unfair

Nov 19, 2008 07:57 GMT  ·  By

Videogames have been blamed for a lot of things over the years, from teaching kids how to be violent, and showing them stuff they aren't supposed to see at their age, to promoting antisocial behavior. Anti-game protesters have risen, with the most famous one being Jack Thompson, who blamed the Grand Theft Auto franchise for encouraging people to be more violent or steal cars.

But now it seems that police officials are starting to grow more accustomed to blaming videogames, as we recently reported that New York City officials wanted to take the pretty popular sandbox shooter title, Saints Row 2, off the store shelves because it encouraged violence against police officers and unlawful conduct. Now, the Australian Police have started to point fingers at games, citing them as the main reason why young drivers are getting into accidents.

New South Wales Superintendent Dave Evans has just declared to the Daily Telegraph that games are making young drivers act more and more irresponsibly on public roads and turn them into dangers for every driver out there. Armed with a report made by a German society, which cites that people take more risks on the road after racing in video games, the police official states that young drivers need to draw a clear line between the virtual and the real roads.

"Video games can have a negative impact on young drivers because it increases their complacency and their indulgence in risk-taking behavior. 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," said Evans.

Some pretty interesting statements, but they do make a lot of gamers ask themselves why the police don’t take more drastic measures in examining the drivers before they receive their licenses. This just goes to show that it’s much easier to point fingers at something than to take any necessary measures to prevent terrible things like car crashes.

Let's just hope that more and more people adopt safer driving methods and work together to ensure that awful accidents don't happen.