Drunk Driving in Video Games

A popular video game series that gives players the option of driving a car while intoxicated has drawn complaints and protests from Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The Grand Theft Auto series has recently come out with a new installment in the series called “Chinatown Wars.” Broward DUI Lawyer William Moore has not personally tested the game.

In this latest edition of the game, players are given the option of going to a bar and consuming drinks while playing as main character Huang Lee. Once the player leaves the bar, he stumbles around, appearing drunk. While in this impaired state a player can direct his character to enter the vehicle and try to drive it while drunk.

DUI in a video game is not wholly without consequences, however, Fort Lauderdale DUI Lawyer William Moore notes. When a player operates a car while intoxicated, the vehicle becomes more difficult to control and he is more likely to get into an accident or be apprehended by the police. When leaving the bar, players are also given the option of taking a virtual taxi home until the effects of the alcohol they have consumed has worn off, rather than drive themselves.

An earlier version of the game released last year, with similar DUI-like features, drew protests from MADD. The organization complained that the game glamorizes drunk driving. In a public statement released last year, MADD said, “Each year nearly 13,500 people die in drunk driving crashes and another half a million are injured in alcohol-related traffic crashes…Drunk driving is not a game and it is not a joke. Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable.” The organization also called for the game to be reviewed and re-rated from “Mature” to “Adults Only,” thus making it more difficult for minors to buy the game. The manufacturers of Grand Theft Auto have defended the game by noting that driving drunk makes game play more difficult and insisting that MADD’s characterization of the game’s “glamorizing” effects is inaccurate. They have also stated that the drunk driving sequences “reflect the logical progression of events that could happen to the game’s characters in the game.”

Mothers Against Drunk Driving is notable for its long-time role advocating for tougher anti-DUI laws and harsher sentencing for those convicted of DUI.

Fort Lauderdale DUI attorney William Moore provides outstanding DUI defense in Broward, Fort Lauderdale, and Fort Lauderdale-Dade Counties. If you have been charged with a DUI, contact Fort Lauderdale DUI Lawyer William Moore, P.A.

This article should be used for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice nor as implied representation of any person.