Clear Example That Videogames Are Dangerous... ...on the road

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

Today, two teenagers were street-racing in Toronto, killing a 43-year old taxi driver. The police found a copy of Need for Speed in one of the driver's front seat. The teenagers were racing two Mercedes Benzes.

 

 

Fatal crash linked to videogame

 

Two 18-year-olds arrested and charged, copy of Need for Speed found in one suspect's car

Jan. 25, 2006. 08:13 PM

CANADIAN PRESS

 

The fantasy world of videogame street racing may have influenced two teenage boys accused of piloting real-life luxury cars in a high-speed contest that killed a taxi driver, police said Wednesday.

A copy of Need for Speed, a game that allows players to select custom cars and race them through crowded urban areas, was found on the front seat of one of the suspect's cars following the late-night crash.

"Here we have, in real life, two guys driving high-end cars at a high rate of speed in an urban area," said Toronto police Det. Paul Lobsinger.

"I don't think it's a giant leap for people to say, `Wow, how does this go together?'"

The 18-year-old friends were racing a pair of Mercedes Benzes through one of the city's wealthiest neighbourhoods on Tuesday night, reaching speeds of 140 kilometres an hour in a 50-kilometre zone, police allege.

The taxi was struck while making a left turn, killing 46-year-old driver Tahir Khan.

The married father of two young children immigrated to Canada six years ago from Pakistan, said Jim Bell, general manager of Diamond Taxicab Association.

"He was working to . . . reunite his family in Canada, and lived the Canadian dream," said Bell.

"Tahir's dream for him and his family has been ended."

The blunt force of the crash left the taxi wrapped around a utility pole, plumes of steam still rolling off the wreckage as investigators sifted through the twisted metal.

Despite finding an auto-racing game at the scene of the crime, Lobsinger stressed the game wasn't solely to blame.

"Look, in the proper perspective . . . if everyone imitated a videogame such as that, we'd have to ban cars," he said.

The driver of the Mercedes involved in the crash suffered only a few scratches. The other driver fled the scene, police said.

Alexander Ryazanov and Wang-Piao Ross are charged with criminal negligence causing death. Ross also faces a charge of failing to stop after an accident causing death.

Both Ross and Ryazanov appeared in court Wednesday, with their bail hearings rescheduled to Friday and next Monday, respectively.

In the prisoner's docket, Ross, dressed in a white and beige hooded sweatshirt, whispered to Ryazanov, in a grey ribbed sweater.

Ross's mother left the courtroom without offering comment.

The incident is the latest in what some say is a growing plague of street racing nationwide.

Last year, a pedestrian in Edmonton was killed when one of two racing Corvettes spun out of control and hit the woman from behind. The incident prompted provincial politicians to pass legislation allowing police to seize vehicles for 24 hours in cases involving street racing.

Just days before the law came into effect, two men died when their vehicles collided in Calgary in an apparent street race.

In B.C., two men charged with killing an elderly woman during a race were committed to trial earlier this month.

The increase in street racing incidents across Canada prompted the former Liberal government to introduce legislation requiring judges to revoke the driver's licence of anyone convicted of street racing.

The bill failed to pass into law before the government fell last November.

 

Source:The Toronto Star

 

xboxrulz

[Houdini 0]

In the words of Forrest Gump "Stupid is as stupid does!" So when they go to prison for the felonies they will not be able to play any more of that game, and most likely when they do get out they will not ever want to play it again.Sane people have fantasies, but they do not act on them, immature people that have difficulty knowing the difference between reality and fantasy and then attempt to act it out may or may not ever get to face reality, but these two will and the reality they are facing is harsh. Hell of a way to learn a lesson of life.

[abhiram 0]

Oh boy, here we go again ... the GTASA kind of issue brought up again about how much videogames influence kids these days. IMO, I'll stick to what my opinion is about videogame violence and R-rated stuff ... blame it on the parents. You don't raise your kids right, they get into trouble. Parents have to take a little more interest in what their kids are doing and the stuff they are involved in. It isn't fair to blame the videogame company for this. And besides ... why the hell was a copy of need for speed in the car at all? It's not like he needed inspiration from the game to win a drag race! Besides ... they were driving Mercs?!!! That's insane! Obviously the parents give these kids more money and freedom than they deserve.

Sane people have fantasies, but they do not act on them, immature people that have difficulty knowing the difference between reality and fantasy and then attempt to act it out may or may not ever get to face reality, but these two will and the reality they are facing is harsh. Hell of a way to learn a lesson of life.

I wholly agree with Houdini. Only immature people (or completely reckless people ... yes they are 2 different kinds, but let's not digress) pull things of this sort. In all probability, this couldn't have been the first time these kids raced. They probably do it all the time, but no one notices it until something terrible happens.

[Sarah81 0]

Right. So everybody's a puppet because the video games, violent song lyrics, and gruesome TV shows/movies take over our brains and force us to do horrible things to other people. I can't accept that. I might not be the most mature or responsible person, but I know the difference between having choices and not having them. Just because I play GTA, watch Quentin Tarantino movies and read Stephen King novels doesn't mean that I'm any less responsible for my actions than people who play Mario Bros./Tetris, watch G-rated movies and read Rebecca of Sunnybook freakin' Farm.Bottom line: if you aren't going to take responsibility for your actions, then you probably don't need to be part of a free society anyway. Fortunately, prisons aren't part of free society. I hope these kids in question stay locked up for a long time - at least until they learn how to admit that they made a really bad decision. It's just too bad that they don't get to keep their Benzes in prison. Oh, my heart is breaking for the spoiled brats; I'm weeping for them even as I type this. </sarcasm>

[unimatrix 0]

The biggest problem that I've seen video games cause is addiction. I know I've played games before, looked up and 4 hours passed and it seemed like 30 minutes. Shame I don't get time to play the ole PS2 anymore it seems like....At anyrate, people have to take responsiblity for their actions. People today seem to want to blame their woes on something else rather than standing up and saying "I did bad, it's my fault". Responsiblity just doesn't seem to be taught anymore. We're like a nation run by trail lawyers...you can find a loophole (or try) for anything...err wait a minute...I think I might have figured something out... That being said, when I started college I was a hobbesain. Then I was told this man named Loche had it all right and that we can all make rational decisions. In order to facilitate higher GPA I smiled and nodded. Now that I've been back out into the real world for a few years I'm back to being a Hobbesian: you need King with absolute power. Then if the King does a bad job, you kill 'em! Replace with another King...

[ebbinger_413 0]

this whole "blaming other people" thing has gone too far...it is complete idiocy...the two spoiled brats didnt know right from wrong because their parents were to caught up in their own money to teach them...and it still isnt soley the parents fault...either way people (sane people at least) have a concsious...and should know when they are doing something wrong...if you are there would be that little voice in the back of your head that is screaming off all the things that could go wrong at that moment and giving you that guilty feeling in your gut...whether it be video games, movies, books, magazines, songs, w/e...it is just stupid to blame them because of a persons actions...peolple make the choices and when you make choices you obviously understand the consiquences (either consciously or unconciously)...im glad these kids are behind bars--------------------------p.s. im not sure whether this was a story, movie or w/e that im remembering this from but wasnt there sumtin bout a guy who got so obsessed with a game that he thought his everyday life was that game, he ended up killing some people and went to court and was convicted of murder or sumtin...and his plee was that he didnt kill anyone because it was just a game...but they found him guilty because they proved that he had a grasp on reality (they asked him a question bout the day he killed them and the game or sumtin ) -im going to try to find this again...im pretty sure i read it somewhere...anyone know ?

[Jeigh1405241495 0]

I think I'm going to apply to become a city planner, and when they ask for my credentials just slide forward the copies of various Sim City games that I own and assume that those are enough. Cause you know... if I do it in a videogame... it counts as if in real life.A)Just because these punks had NFS in their car, doesn't mean thats why they were street racing. Me and my friends have raced since before we had any form of illegal street racing media. Sure we are smart enough not to do it somewhere populated, but its not like seeing this in games convinced us to start weaving in and out of traffic.B)Videogames don't cause **** unless the person involved was already unstable. Thats like if I told someone a fake story about a man who can fly if he wants to reeeeeally badly. Then that person goes and jumps off a bridge. Is it my fault he was a complete idiot? Not so much. Sure games might put ideas into someones head, but its their choice whether or not to re-enact them. Otherwise we'll need to start censoring all media... and dont get me started on thatC)This is getting old fast. I hope they move onto blaming something new for all the evil in the world soon (personally, I think cows are responsible for all the **** thats going on...I mean... the way they just stand around all day... thats messed up)

[emericastreetskater 0]

I came across that article the other day. Street racing is not something to get into.

[jorbanks 0]

I, myself don't believe that videogames are to blame.Odds are these kids were already intrigued my cars are street racing before they even touched the game. Obviously it's all very easy to blame a game on people's mistakes but what we often forget is that it's human nature to make mistakes.So before you blame the game for one's mistakes think about what's really going on.

[cruxbucket 0]

i also think the kids are to blame. i have killed many of zombies and ninjas and aliens in numerous video game since i was 5 and have never thought about shooting or killing someone in real life. like wise i have played hundreds of racing games including the one mentioned but i drive safely in real life. i can distinguish fantasy from reality. in a videogame you have continues for errors in real life you dont. anyways video games are representation of our culture. People were racing cars way before video games and we had wars and violence also. so i believe either an insane or just plain stupid person would do something they see in a videogame.

[Pina 0]

This is a old discussion but all the time you finish with the same conclusions: Videogames can't be responsibles for our behaviors.The Human Be is smart and can see the diferences between games and reality. This news are written by people that doesn't know what is a video game or a movie.Since this day I will have one copy of Need For Speed at my car and if I crash I'm not giulty, thats the videogame men!!!Ohh God

[Shadow X 0]

Thanks alot for that article xboxrulz. This all comes down to whether media influences violence. I remember doing a piece of coursework on whether media affects violence and I know that some people who read this will agree with the article or disagree and say that the boys were under social, financial, environmental, e.t.c. issues.

Two 18-year-olds arrested and charged, copy of Need for Speed found in one suspect's car

I didn't think that Need for Speed could have that sort of effect on boys, especially 18 year olds. I don't own it myself but I have played it and watched others play it and I can say that I have never felt anymore violent to before I played the game. It's quite unbelievable to believe that mature adults could have let this game take over their lives.
However, these boys may have been really immature like many of you are saying. Only people without the sense to control their own actions would or could have done something as terrible as this.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

nice comments everyone, but remember there are many people who play videogames and die from it, why? Addiction, like cocaine and heroine. Some people are biologically easily addicted to some things than others. Such as illegal street racing on a 60 km/h street. They want to highten their addiction since they got "bored" of their current addiction.xboxrulz

[Jeigh1405241495 0]

Yes, but if someone is willing to risk their life over an addiction, they have problems that are deeper then which addiction they pick. If we try to deny people every substance, activity, etc that could cause an addiciton (be it mention or chemical or emotional) then our society will be slowly turning into a horribly censored empire. If someone doesn't go for help when they think "huh, this game bores me now, lets go act it out" it's not the games fault.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

well, when people get addicted to cocaine or heroine, it isn't heroine's fault that they are addicted after they tried it. (yes, I know it will be the person's fault)xboxrulz