Kudos to her, but cars don't really blow up as readily as shown in movies/TV/video games.

EmeraldDragon

I NEED THAT SHIT YOU DRIVE

Bernoulli

This is why I've lost hope in the general population. There's no common sense left...

B33

Onw day I was watching Dateline and Stone Phillips said SUVs always roll over when you turn sharply. And the gas tanks explode at the drop of a hat.

LittleBigPlaneteer

"She just knew, from watching 'Fallout 3' footage. She saw on there that when you shoot a nuclear powered car, it can blow up. She knew that could happen to us"

Vault69

@LittleBigPlaneteer: Just because a game has an M rating on it doesn't mean that people under that age restriction shouldn't play it; it means stores cannot directly sell it to them. It's up to the parent to deem if their child is in fact mature enough to handle the content. I played hordes of violent video games when I was a teen; games like Carmageddon 2 with it's full dismemberment and Soldier of Fortune with it's realistic (for the time) depictions of exit wounds and intestines falling out. This didn't change the fact that I only got to play *any* games as long as I performed well in school, and I certainly didn't turn out to be a complete psycho because of them. (Debatable, of course :P)

The kid used her experience playing the game, however unrealistic it was, to propel her to rescue her parents in an incredibly stressful situation; something tells me their parenting skills are holding up well so far.

OUberLord

From playing Halo, i know that when my Car flips over, i'll just walk up to it and flip it right up. Explosion avoided!

Walker

The girl then ran out into traffic stopping a car and promptly told the driver "I need this" before beating his face against the steering wheel and flinging him out.

Modus_Operandi

@LordNova:

Damn straight!..its the difference between walking for the rest of your life or not..

But its the thought that counts...

If GTA taught me anything its that if you hit a person (animated or not) chances are there dead...not cars go boom if upside down..that and there's easy ways to get your money back...aw..

Pumba512

Shenanigans! GTA doesn't allow you to drag bodies out of overturned vehicles.

WordMan

@LittleBigPlaneteer:

is=are ><

LittleBigPlaneteer

HaHaHaaHah! cars blowing up after they flip.... Oh my... your making me cry... =')

But honestly, what a soldier.

King Seafoam

@JayrodT:

I believe the words you're looking for is "Stupid parents"

LittleBigPlaneteer

The original headline was meant to reflect that the 11 year old *believed* she was saving her family's lives but I didn't explain that in the post. Apologies for the changes. Sometimes things look better before they go live.

Mike Fahey

@MaWeiTao: "And I'd like to know what the hell kinds of parents are these that allow an 11-year-old kid to play GTA. "

The kinds of parents who knew it would save their life one day.

JayrodT

Oh, sweet irony!

JayrodT

This incident has about as much to do with Grand Theft Auto as do those stories where some kid goes on some sort of GTA-inspired rampage.

That's not to mention that cars don't explode merely for being upside down. I do find it concerning that kids are learning how things work from games.

And I'd like to know what the hell kinds of parents are these that allow an 11-year-old kid to play GTA.

MaWeiTao

@Dreamwriter: Very good point. Modified the headline to reflect that.

Mike Fahey

@carvelo:

That's exactly what I was thinking. She wasn't just going to let them sit there. The mother referencing GTA as the motivator is just a low point for her parenting.

And for those that accept this story as its presented. You should also accept the other stories where GTA influences people to commit crimes. If people are so impressionable that they are using video games as motivation for their real life behavior, then obviously it goes both ways. If you believe one and not the other then you're a hypocrite. There's no doubt in my mind, that video games and other forms of media can have an impact on people. That doesn't mean it's a causal relationship though.

LittleBigPlaneteer

@Mike Fahey: I agree that it is a social victory, since videogames are ever the scapegoat, I just wonder how this flies in the face of all of our defenses of how irrelevant video games are to extreme human action, in most cases, violent crime.

Then again, the general public who would take video game press (+/-) to heart probably is the type to listen to whatever is on tv anyway.

The_Atomic_Pod

@Rowr: Oh, didn't you know? Preteen kids apparently only have proper intelligence when they're NOT doing bad things. The only time they don't know any better is when they murder people. Then it's some kind of media's fault. Child Psychology 101, man.

AntiheroKing

Because of GTA she learned that cars could roll over and explode, and she's eleven?

I learned that when I was five from watching COPS.

Guvnah

I am willing to bet money that kids wasn't playing GTA4

brokenscope

So yes, the Grand Theft Auto series can easily become the scapegoat for any number of crimes, but it can also inspire heroism in the heart of a preteen girl with an unrealistic grasp on automobile physics.

LMAO quote of the day.

ichiban1081

@redneon: It never said that she got superpowers. Maybe her mother couldn't reach the seat belt and she helped her, or something.

ArgentAngel

@tabion20: Yea that retarded 11 YEAR OLD has no understanding of first aid. I mean come on the first thing you learn when your a born is first aid and that cars don't explode, how a child could be so careless is insane.

liquid_kore

Grand Theft Auto lessons are more powerful than the fear of death everybody. You read it here! I find it funny that the parents point to the video game as a reason why their daughter rescued them from a car...what are they supposed to do? Just hang there?

carvelo

I'm willing to bet she didn't lift her mother out of the car...

redneon

I'm guessing the car didn't blow up.

pedantic_dandy

aha, take that Jack!

phantomlink

@Nobuyuki: XD Nice. Comment of the week.

vid3oman64

GTA IV taught me that if I kill a hooker, walk around the block and come back, her body will be magically gone. You don't know how many times that little tip saved my ass!

xMindPrintsx

So, he knew that when a cars rolls, it can explode, and because in every GTA when a cars rolls and land upside down it always explodes huh??

I though that was common sense

KristenBal

Almost as ridiculous sounding as the stories against the game.

Mustakrakish

@Touy:@tabion20: @Lazlo: Note: She's 11. She probably doesn't watch mythbusters or has ever had a CPR class or was ever a firefighter.

ArgentAngel

Oh, and for the record, it's only the gas floating at the surface of gasoline that burns. So if you drop a lit match in a gas filled barrel, only the surface will catch fire. The rest of the barrel will be perfectly cool.

tabion20

ummmmm ok. there's a glaring mistake here... most of the gaming articles on this topic take on the tone of "yeah RIGHT, like games teach or affect anyone." This article admits what most people casually and logically observe, that a game can have moral influence. It simply reveals that gaming journalists can be guilty of what they accuse other journalists of, and it admits what even I as a gamer have argued all along - games can have power, influence, and effect.

I'm not even touching the subject of an eleven year old needing grand theft auto in order to learn that a flipped car is dangerous.

Mohican

How exactly did she save anyone's lives? Their car didn't explode! As the original article described it, she helped them "escape". Kotaku FTL for hyping this up that much!

Dreamwriter

The article fails to mention that after she saved her family, she jacked a car passing buy and ran over 3 cops.

Nobuyuki

I love how they tell you in any sort of first aid, CPR, or EMT course that cars rarely explode. Ever. Yet "IF IT ROLLS OVER BOOM!" seems to be the order of the day.

Touy

Ok... This kid is a complete idiot.
Newsflash, people. Cars. Don't. Blow. Up. I trained as a firefighter, I should know. The worst that can happen is, if the gas tank is punctured, gas will leak and might catch fire. Not blow up. Catch fire. It's annoying, it's hot, it burns. But it doesn't explode. Gasoline is not, I repeat, NOT an explosive.

In very rare occurrences, gasoline has been known to leak and soak up the back seat, which in turn becomes flammable. Not "suddunly-bursts-on-fire!!!". Just flammable. Don't smoke while you're car is upside down and your backseat is soaked in gas and you risk very, very little.

By dragging her family out of the car, this kid risked aggravating dangerous spinal injuries. She could've paralyzed her mother or straight up killed her father! And the media is glorifying this act of pure stupidity?

Real smart. Reeeeeeaaaaal smart.

tabion20

Oh there's no denying video games cause good. GTA being cited for good is excellent.

Ryodestined

Cars flipping over can make them blow up?? Madam, you watch too many movies, and not enough Discovery Channel. Mythbusters disproved all kinds of that stuff earlier...good story though.

Lazlo

@The_Atomic_Pod: First, the headline of the original story doesn't mention the game.

Second, call them fluff pieces all you will, news like this, both negative and to a lesser degree positive has an impact on how non-gamers view games. It may be fluff to those of us who know this is just a way for people to have a good time, but to the parents buying and the politicians making the laws, this sort of thing weighs big.

Mike Fahey

To all those asking why an 11 year old is playing GTA, my response is: Maybe the parents feel that she is mature enough to handle it?

This is kinda a 'feel-good' story. I'd love for it to cause some of the 'gamers-are-terrorists' brigade to have second thoughts, but it's unlikely to happen.

Staggy

Hate to be a negative Nancy but since cars don't explode when upside down, she didn't really save her family's life. In fact she's lucky her family members were not seriously hurt or unconscious cause she might have cause more harm by moving them then by letting them stay put.

LordNova

@angelangelv2: Or she just didn't know car mechanics and decided that helping would be better than a car potentially blowing up.

@amatecha: I was playing GTA when I was 11 and I'm not completely whacked. Some kids can handle it. I figure that if a kid is going to become a criminal it will happen regardless of video games.

ArgentAngel

"These articles are just as bad as the ones claiming a kid saw something bad in a game, and did it because of said game.

Nothing but a puff piece. Whatever news makes your side look good. "

agreed, its all the same shit.

Maybe the eleven year old may have just realised that staying upside down in a car is kind of dumb? why would the first reaction be anything else? Or are eleven year olds not expected to have that sort of intelligents these days?

Rowr

In my eyes, knowledge is good regardless. It might be good to know how to build an atomic bomb so that we can know how to stop one from going off.

Xagest

Awesemo thats pretty cool. though I the Canyonero has a problem with spontaneous combustion after it rolls over.....though unless there is a rhino in the area to put the fire out you could be in big trouble. of course unexplained fires are a matter for the courts.

Daneish003

@Benjamin Linus: I agree. If we dismiss the fluff that pins violent crimes arbitrarily on games, then we must also dismiss this completely irrelevant interest piece.

While it's nice for GTA to be perceived in some positive press, it's still just spinning a headline that will grab attention out of a minor detail in the story.

The_Atomic_Pod

@DragonYen: ditto

(But it certainly is a fun way to learn about exploding cars, bullets that hurt, and the restorative properties of hookers.)

rezlow

Who cares? It's just a game, if you can't tell between real and virtual, you're crazy.

angelangelv2

I guess... I mean, if you're pretty young, you're not going to figure out on your own that a vehicle can easily explode from an accident. I wouldn't be surprised if it's completely true that she learned about that entirely from GTA4. Either that or action movies, pretty much.

At the same time, my question is, why is your 11-year-old daughter playing GTA4? heh!

amatecha

Yay! Finally, something good to come out of media + video games!

ArgentAngel

I don't care what others say, using video games as references as what to do in the real world is retarded. Every car explodes when flipped in GTA (the older ones at least). That does not happen in real life.

Plus the girl is 11 years old, why the hell is she even playing GTA? Good parenting there.....

LittleBigPlaneteer

@DragonYen: Mee too.

neoraul20

@Benjamin Linus: Eh, it's a fun story either way.

Also, in before lame Chuck Norris association.

bleeps

Somewhere in the world, Jack Thompson is puking into a toilet.

Cornerb0y

I still don't think 11 year olds need to be playing GTA... but that's her parents decision I guess... Really nice to see a "good" story come out of a video game for once.

DragonYen

These articles are just as bad as the ones claiming a kid saw something bad in a game, and did it because of said game.

Nothing but a puff piece. Whatever news makes your side look good.

Benjamin Linus

Is everyone so quick to dismiss a gasoline fire (versus a fiery explosion of three-car-and-a-firetruck magnitude)?

Sure cars don't spontaneously explode (except for maybe certain cars that rhyme with 'binto') but a crashed car poses a very real hazard of gasoline fire in the event there is a fuel leak (yes, I am aware the mythbusters 'busted' the exploding gas tank leak, but tanks aren't crush/leak-proof; Crown Vic Interceptors have a small problem with vulnerable tanks). As for people touting the moving of injured persons following trauma, isn't it recommended to risk limb over life in those situations?

Obviously it's a call to make on a case-by-case basis. But in this instance, the parents were incapacitated (both had lost their glasses, were unable to see, and were disoriented) and her siblings were unable to take responsibility. If the parents were injured, I'm sure they would've stopped her from moving them. Why can't we just celebrate an 11 year old girl for quick thinking?

I still think it's funny people are so quick to blame everything on video games, especially grand theft auto (was SO 2008). I still remember Bugs Bunny cartoons and eveyone getting smashed with anvils shot in the face and cross dressing.

Duck season anyone?

jeebussez

Worst story ever.
That's like watching the propaganda they call "news"... all stupid lies!

Superuser

HOW DID THEY GET THE MOTHER OUT OF THE CAR?

two cans tied together and thrown down the street to wake up the surrounding neighbors with a loud annoying noise

After pulling out her family, Audrey jumped in front of another car, swung open the driver's door, cold-cocked the helpess motorist in the face before tossing them out, thereby securing her family a ride to reach their destination.

ReidP

@BONERJAM: I'm surprised they didn't blame GTA for the accident to begin with...

B33

Obviously they didn't let her play the newest GTA4, 'cause then she would know that in fact cars do NOT explode when they flip over.

P3nnst8r

@Tarv: hahah ! creepy !

amatecha

Awesome, I dont really know if thats what helped this family but at least GTA wasn't to blame for the car accident.

BONERJAM

haha, wow. click on the link and then click on the picture of the family. you can order prints of that picture straight off the times website.

convenience!

Tarv

@EmeraldDragon:

yea they do :/
Or rather... they CAN.
it's all relative to the damage.

Maudite

@Staggy: "To all those asking why an 11 year old is playing GTA, my response is: Maybe the parents feel that she is mature enough to handle it?"

Or, more likely, they're just typical bad parents that buy whatever the kid wants and are oblivious to whether it's appropriate for them or not.

Mezodon

@LittleBigPlaneteer: And she also knew that if a rhino sees a flame, he'll instinctively try to put it out.

liquid_kore

@Staggy: I completely agree, my parents allowed me to play violent games and watch violent movies when I was a kid and I don't think I'm a psycho, yet.

Though the realism from a Voodoo Banshee was a little less than it is today.

And I'm sure 99% of kids think a car will explode when it's been in a crash. The 1% will just leave the people in the car because they'll be fine.

Destruction

Have to agree with the general consensus on this one. A fluff piece to justify an underaged kid playing something he should not be playing.

Also, SUVs blow up when rolled over?

Kinda sketchy logic there and I'd need to see proof from real life studies not some kids dream.

angry_gamer

Next week she'll skydive out of a helicopter into a swimming pool.

osteofight

The best part is how smug she looks in the picture. This is, I guess, positive media for video games, but man, now the entire world can realize how retarded she is.

Ping5000

The first reply (and I'd assume many afterwards) nailed it. This story is every bit as bad as the ones that show the 'other' side of the coin. In fact, in the eyes of many it will serve to legitimize the other stories. Don't ya just love being part of the problem, Mike?

getbonus

GTA ATE MY FAMILY

Infamous.mpgEU

So if the girl had been responsible for paralyzing a member of her family because she moved them after the accident would the game enjoy that attention as well?

crim

@Maudite: No, not really. Car's don't blow up just because they crash or roll over. Heck there was a Mythbuster episode all about it where they made a car look like a stand in from a Bonnie and Clide movie, crashed it into other cars, and finally took out the gas tank, filled it to the brinm and shot at it with tracer rounds. Still they never got an explosion, just a small fire after a few dozen tracer rounds.

EmeraldDragon

I dont care if your 7 or 11 if you've been raised right you know what is wrong and right so games are not going to effect you. BUT! im not saying you should let youre kids play games that have a crap load of violet things in it. HERE check this out My NIECE AND NEPHEW!

+ Watch video

DePalo

I understand people saying that gaming implications in mainstream media whether positive or negative should be avoided, but most of you sound very hypocritical.

If there's a story stating negative connotations of someone playing video games all of the comments are "oh, there the media goes making gamers look bad!"

Now, though, when the media mentions something positive it is unacceptable. Please make up your minds, and get off the fence about it. Either media is bad or only negative media is bad. I'm not saying either opinion is correct, but stop sounding like a hypocrite.

ArgentAngel

@Schmatz:

Every car that is flipped will blow up in the GTA 3 series, so that's where she got it from. I don't think she played GTA4 where that isn't the case.

LittleBigPlaneteer

@tabion20: Half the cars in my country use gas (as in "natural gas", not "the liquid petrol, that some called gas"). How about that :P. Those gas bottles are like 40-80 liters (of volume).

somarix

Unless the hood of the car had flames coming out the sides, I don't see why she thought it would blow up. Seriously, cars don't blow up unless the front is on fire. Thanks GTA!

Seriously though, I wouldn't thank a game for knowing to get out of a damaged car. I wonder if the mom just claimed she said this, or the kid actually said it.

Schmatz

"I know, I had to make sure the story was true as well, going so far as to call the story's writer, Craig Wieczorkiewicz, to verify the details."

I would have been skeptical too, if it were me. A little girl playing GTA? At that age my sister was still more into platformers and Mario Paint than anything more involved. Now she's plays mostly Katamari and Darkstalkers.

Skunky

@Xagest: then we should all play Braid imo

SabinDeus

alls good. so we got a teen who managed to help her family our of a crashed car...

humm.. so how is this related to gta again??

nusli

I laugh at the all the people here who are saying [i]'What kind of parents lets a 11-year old play GTA?',
'That's bad parenting'[/i], etc.
Seriously, if any of you claim that you have never seen a movie or played a game that was not meant for your age when you were a kid, you are either downright lying or you must be over 70 years old...at least.
I watched movies like Exorcist when I was quite young.Today I feel it was a good thing because it helped me conquer my fears as a kid. After that any horror movie I saw was just 'meh'.
Likewise I went through quite a few movies/games that were deemed inappropriate for my age, and it didn't turn me into a deranged killer yet.

harshalizee

Awesome Job!

GamingNinja

Placing Simcity has taught me that crime and fires are a bitch.

OiScout

@Daisuash:

For a kid her age? She's 11 and not mentally retarded. I think any 11 year old would do the same damn thing, even if they never touched a GTA game. It's common human instinct to try and get your family out of a crashed vehicle. She wasn't going to "cry uncontrollably". She isn't fucking 3 years old. At 11 she should be perfectly capable of knowing just what to do.

LittleBigPlaneteer

similarly, if she was watching an r rated movie with car chases that had the same effect she would have also noticed. so they're basically trying to hype up the game to be family friendly. remember, dismembering your neighbors to have a ride on their car is family friendly. signed gta 4. :)

newave

@jeebussez: Well said sir, i agree with all you said, apparently for a lot of "mature and intelligent" people around here, is wrong to learn things from a videogame, but is correct to learn things from a tv show like Mythbusters, where all their test are done in severely controlled environments. Ignorants.

Daisuash

Video games also taught me how to do a barrel roll to escape the enemies attacks. It has saved my life many times.

JustJake

Doh! I meant shelf, not chelf. I really should proof read before I hit submit. :D

AllegraStreit

Game news aside, I'm glad no one was seriously injured.
What makes this piece of news entertainment is GTA's involvement. Otherwise, the media (and ourselves who support the media) wouldn't care, outside of some vague sense of well-wishing. While it's possible that GTA can teach something, it is plain that GTA was not designed to teach car safety or anything else. To give praise for an unintentional act is foolish. If I accidently ran over a serial murderer, despite the good to society, it is not praise-worthy. If GTA happens to unintentionally teach kids an isolated bit of sense between the sexuality, drug use, and murder, I see no reason to suddenly sing the virtues of GTA.
Having said all that, if GTA causes crime it should be taken off the chelf, and all the people who committed crime under the influence of GTA should be pardoned. This is patently absurd. People have free will; however we may view GTA's content, making it a scapegoat for crime is intolerably ludicrous.

AllegraStreit

Really funny how everyone here is bashing the girl about what she did, she tried to help her family instead of just start to cry and scream incontrollably like many of the people bashing her would do. It doesn´t matter if the car won´t blow up or if she is learning things in GTA, she did a really outstanding thing for a kid her age, so STFU people, not everyone is a fuckin fireman...

Also, letting a kid play a M-rated game isn´t wrong if you educate him properly about the difference about real and virtual life. People who does shit because of games, were people who were pretty fucked up before, not because of it. The fake puritanism of some people is just fucked up.

Daisuash

Except pulling people out of cars is the last thing you should do. It's quite possible that they could have neck injuries, so you should get the paramedics there, and at most try to stabilize their necks. Don't move them.

Sebbe

First of all, I'm glad that girl saved her family. And it's... cute, I guess, that she was inspired by GTA's physics to act in speed. Goob job, girl!

However, this article is about as bad as the ones that claim that GTA causes crime. Positive, of course, but still silly.

And, at eleven, she shouldn't have been playing the game.

@ReidP: Heh.

Do Kesubei

@EmeraldDragon:

I missed that episode of Myth Busters... It sounds awesome though... I'll have to check it out.

but it seems like they were trying to prove wether or not you could blow up a car by shooting rounds into it.

not disprove that gasoline is highly combustible when set to a flame.

of course I am by no means an expert on the matter... And could certainly be proven wrong

Maudite

Gaming news are reaching the level of absurdity of a Transmetropolitain article ( [www.amazon.com] ).

lumpi

Also it should be noted that I'm guessing in four or five years, that girl's gonna end up looking like the heroine for a zombie movie.

Skunky

Really glad no one was seriously injured, but claiming this as a victory would be beyond foolish. Game shows child something inaccurate that misleads her to accidentally do the right thing? That's almost a point against games-- that kids can do the right thing even when games have taught them fallacies?

Better lucky than right, I guess. But again, thank God everyone is OK.

wild homes abides!

Sweet baby Jesus.

AJMarra

She didn't know that, anyhow? Let's see... gasoline... fire... upside-down car... hm, hang on... *boots up GTA*

I mean, even if there was no imminent threat of explosion, wouldn't you try to... oh... errr, I mean, how wonderful that a positive story has been inspired by gaming!

dae_giovanni

It only flipped four times? Too bad. One more, and they would have unlocked that Achievement.

texicali74

Awesome! She's a heroine!

Hmmm. From the looks of him... I think her little brother wishes he played more GTA IV and not "Barbie's Magic Pony Island Princess" game.

I kid, that game rocks!

JimJD

I learned that could happen by watching CHiPs

Orionsaint

Somewhere in the world, Jack Thompson is puking into a toilet. heheeee

Suntsu

@Sebbe

Yeh Cuz we all know that it's more important that their necks are safe when they explode. There are situations when you are required to move someone. Like if they aren't breathing, and they are in immediate danger.
Secondly, The kid is 11 not 21. When an 11 year old sees their family trapped in an upside down car they are not going to think "oh yeh I should just call the paramedics and let them move them". Also, do you actually think that the kid pulled her parents out? Read the story and you will see that they were just dazed and she lead them out. Meaning the parents got out on their own so the parents should've stayed in the car then. Stop trying to ruin good stories with uneducated answers.

todde7

"She saw on there that when a car rolls over, it can blow up"

Priceless. Rockstar deserves a pat on the back.

jspeed04

This article made me laugh. It's so funny that a game that tons of people hate helped save peoples lives. Even though an eleven year probably should not have been watching/playing GTA, this is a big F U to everyone who hates it.

lenandude

Sadly, the Norris family found themselves upside down in a Jeep because the father also plays GTA..

crewwolfy

Seriously, this story sucks.

Roguestriker

my cousin flipped over a truck, thankfully nothing bad happened to him and he only had minor injuries, however we went back to the car to get his things because i quote "thought the car was going to blow up and destroy my things like you know, in grand theft auto"
Is it wrong if i laughed?

MINIBOSS

The kid has issues if she needs to play GTA IV to learn that car rolling over with people trapped inside is a bad thing

eternalsunshineofcoralfang

And to get her family home, she hailed a taxi with "YEEEELOW CARRRRR!"

Silverbackne

Why is an 11 year old playing GTA?

GreyFoxV1

Sorry? She's 11 years old. She should not have been playing GTA and they all should have been immolated as a result. The space/time continuum is missing a victim.

mariospants

What a stupid story. Cars don't explode. And in any basic "first aid on the road" lesson they tell you not to move anyone in a car wreckage, you could cause sever injuries.

andpin

Ahh yes of course when the car is flipped in any of the first three, 3-D GTA games it'll light on fire and explode....

excel_excel

Okay here's one: "Cause of accident was due to 11 year old forcing family member to go off road simulating a crash she performed in Grand Theft Auto IV, a very naughty mind degrading video game that is the root of all evil since the dawn of man and created by that one ugly chick that we see at every Hooters Restaurant.

Delvar15

"She saw on there that when a car rolls over, it can blow up"

The kid's been playing too much Motorstorm, it seems. Cars usually don't blow up just because their roof touches the floor. In fact, it's hard to get cars to blow up at all.

L_K_M

Is that game for adults only?

VakeroRokero

I agree, this is equally as stupid as saying GTA caused someone to murder.

Maleficence

Well, the author of the original story is responsible, and by posting a story that highlights what NOT to do in case of an emergency, he has inadvertently pissed off paramedics everywhere.

Spoony Bard

@tabion20: Exactly, because being a scared 11-year old girl in a destroyed car means you can't instinctively try to help your family at all. Backslash sarcastic.

So she didn't take CPR. So she isn't a firefighter. So her GTA excuse is a little 'bah'.

Clearly the forgetting thing is that she not only pulled her family out of a destroyed car, but still 'saved them'. AND. And let's not forget that they're all alive and safe. Sheesh, some people are so bitter about a little girl.

Mesren_Makai

Cars don't blow up when upside down...

and they don't in GTA after GTA IV. of course all the other ones did. ;D

Akmed

It all boils down to parenting. If you are a bad parent the chances of a child taking away negative things from a game and reenacting it are probably high. Thus the reverse is probably true.

Either way, the point should never be about what a child got out of a game but what they've got out of their parents. Good or bad. That's the root of all of this.

zeroknight

@d4rlp3nc1l:

Did that kid say 'windurs'? You mean windows?

Orionsaint

Too bad they rolled only four times, one time more and they would have unlocked the Rolled Over achievement adding 30 points to their gamerscore...

PhreneticGamer

Luckily they had no major spinal injuries... and cars rarely explode.

Since it turned out well though, that's great for her. Way to go. Still... very dangrous moving accident victims. (And as a motorcyclist, if you see a biker wipe out and land immobile, DON'T TOUCH THE HELMET. Leave it to the EMTs, maybe flip open a visor to make it easier to breathe at most.)

fuchikoma

+ Watch video

d4rlp3nc1l

yeah but these blames on videogames are totally ridiculous, i mean like 2 nights ago i was watchin usa or something, and they had a sneak premier of the new series on tru.tv (court.tv) and it was called principles office. video is below, go to 40seconds in.

he choked a dude, because he got pushed down in a soccer game in gym class. btw...on the full epsiode, the principal is just like WTF... now, its just an escape goat that everyone is using no matter what.

like,

cop: sir why did you steal the car (its a dummy car too, so the cops stop it and lock the doors, and stuff),

man: i didnt do it, officer, you got this all wrong.

cop: we have you in the vechile.

man: video games made me do it, i, i, i just thought i was playing a video game sir.

d4rlp3nc1l

@Mohican:
I think you're misunderstanding this article. I'm sure that just about everybody reading this article on Kotaku is going to think "Alright, how does that have anything to do with GTA? That's basic instinct, not something you learn from a game!" But what if some idiot who watches Fox News sees this and thinks to themself "Wow! A video game actually helped someone! I thought they were just murder simulators. That's what Jack Thompson told me..."? I'm all for any story that helps non-gamers think a little more highly of video games and gamers alike, even if all of US know it's complete rubbish.

Facemeat

3 last names in one family, and the mom shares her husband's last name. Wow.

Luziphir

@Gaff:

Hahah. It's so true. There's no winning on the internet.

NeoAkira

@Nobuyuki: You beat me to it.

I was about to say, in related news, the girl jacked a new car for the family, drove over three prostitutes, took their money, and then escaped a 3-star wanted level before using her new found funds to stop for a bite to eat at Cluck'n Bell.

DugDawg

@Gaff: Pure gold ;P...

Daisuash

@LittleBigPlaneteer: So if you think this, then why have you spent so many post bashing the girl in this thread?? For a child (even if its eleven) this is a really big thing to do, it doesn´t matter the reason, the fact is that she did it and her family is alive and well, that´s what should count. And i don´t think that her parents are bad ones just for letting her play GTA, the age restriction control in every media is a suggestion, because every child and family is different, at least in my family kids know what is bad or wrong and what is real and what´s not; Trying to shove a rating system that´s based on pure common sense down to their throats is just an insult to their intelligence, the kids that are stupid and problematic will always be no matter what restrictions you put on them.

Daisuash

Reporter: "Hey guys, another story about the bad influence of gaming on kids!"
Internet: "IT'S WRONG!!!!"

Reporter: "Hey guys, another story about the good influence of gaming on kids!"
Internet: "IT'S WRONG!!!!"

Gaff

so the car really did exploded after they flipped or not?

Alex_Mexico

So she pulled her family out of the car because GTA taught her that getting out of a crashed car is good?

Like she even needed GTA to tell her that.

Jorw

Isn't that just more common sense than learning from a video game?

sean09

Umm...has anyone asked what an 11year old was doing watching (playing?) GTA?

nonbreakingspace

@d4rlp3nc1l: American schools really seem to suck pretty badly; some of these kids are awesome, they shouldn't get detention, they should get medals. Also, there's checks on when you got to the bathroom? I'd start hitting shit, too.

L_K_M

I think this is as much bull as claiming GTA killed your drunk son.

Sure it could have taught the person that upside down cars = bad, but saying that GTA inspired this person to save lives is as much media exaggeration as saying GTA is the root of all violence.

Ryuk

@Alex_Mexico: I guess the girl wasn't the only one misinformed about car explosions. Watched too many movies, played too many games.

geminas01

I keep telling people I know karate from Mortal Kombat/Street Fighter but no one ever believes me...yet this girl learns cars explode when they crash from GTA4 and she gets a newspaper article?

...where's some ass to kick so I can get my article?

JGab

I don't really believe that games make people more inclined to be violent, but I guess they could learn things about physics and what not if a game is close ENOUGH to real life. Way to go little girl.

TheMurderer

If she'd really been paying attention, GTA would have taught her that the best way to get an overturned car back up is to plow another car into it at full speed.

MysidianMan

Not what I would have expected her to have learned from GTA, but I'm still happy to hear it is behind something good, and not as a scapegoat for crime.

Xenigma

Letting young kids play GTA4 isn't bad parenting. Letting young kids play GTA4 without explaining it should be enjoyed as a living room entertainment and not carry over into real life is bad parenting.

Any of you how watched seriously gory/scarey R rated movies when you were pre-teens shouldn't be preaching they're bad parents. You turned out OK didn't you?

Some kids can handle mature content games & movies badly, some handle it perfectly naturally and see it as entertainment only, and some could go either way depending on what they're taught. In the latter case it's up to the parents to steer them in the right direction.

injate

Not to be negative but...

The car didn't blow up, right? Pulling a possibly injured person from a car wreck can possibly do more harm than good. Moving a person who may have a spinal injury can cause serious and irreversible damage.

Also, if that is a picture of her and her family, no offense, but they look like, um... well... uh... I mean to say... uh...

Well, let's just say that she doesn't look so happy to be in a picture with them.

Eltigro

It's a nice reply to all the fuss about games leading to robbery and other crimes...
But it's also on the same level.

Though coincidentally one aspect of the game, which is not completely true, lead to a good thing, it could have lead to tons of other bad things.

And the girl might just have the misconception that all flipping cars explode, which isn't true.

If she is so gullible to think that physics in games are a close representation to reality, she'd better NOT be playing games at all...

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

These parents need to buy the kid GTAIV, stop living in the past. Upside down cars no longer blow up.

Cook66

Goes to show that children aren't the mindless drones of videogame inspired destruction the media like to portray. Proves that they can tell the difference between the actual world and one that's made up.

masonica

it's very unlikely a car blows up!

Elrinth

Still, I wish her parents would adequately punish her. SHE ALMOST KILLED THE LOT OF THEM. How is that not punishable behavior?

Say what? She tried to save them? Hmm... So if you run around with a butcher's knife in a maternity ward screaming "Who needs to get their babiez out! I can cut them out! I seen it on da TV!", should you get a medal? And if you actually went ahead and did it on some unconcious woman? What if you actually pulled it off and, with some inventive use of duct Tape you actually managed to close up her gaping abdomen?

That's the question: when you do something stupid and dangerous with good intentions AND pull it off without killing anyone, should you get rewarded or punished?

tabion20

Huh, who knew... all this time trying to blow up vehicles with regular gasoline and it turns out you can get the same effect by flipping it upside down. Now that's bound to make a difference....somewhere....maybe at football riots?

salsaman1991

Norris Fam FTW!

DanLar75

Parents suck crap these days. What is an 11 year old playing GTA? 10 to 1 she replaced 'videogames' with 'gta'.

And how can you take your family on a jeep? A freaking jeep! The army uses Jeeps! On top of that you CRASH, almost killing everyone?

(Say jeep one too many times and it becomes a weird word)

Still, I'm glad everyone came out ok. It could've been a big tragedy.

hoezee

So did the car blow up? I don't think so. Unless it was leaking fuel and there was already a source of ignition near by- the worst thing you can do is to drag injured people around. There could have been a spinal injury that you could make worse by moving someone when you don't know what you're doing. Also most of the time when people are pinned beneath something and then the obstacle is removed all the blood starts to run out and that's actually the most dangerous time right there.

Triterion

@The_Atomic_Pod
That's the whole point. This is a way of attacking those stories by taking their premise to its logical extreme. It's reductio ad absurdum and (since it's a reversal) parody.

tech42er

I had the same logic while trying to pick up hookers. Alas, when ever I stop my car and honk at hot chicks, I just get strange looks and flipped off.

DaSRoT

well finally. something good has been said about video games....

kingme

I agree with everyone who says this was a stupid thing to do, and for pretty much for all the reasons given.

I would like to think we aren't so hard up for positive game publicity that we were seriously trolled by this crap. I mean, come on.

TheBakachan

"later she picked up a hooker for her father , so he could recover faster, and knew how to beat the hooker to death with a bat afterwords to get back her money"

pandafresh

hahahahahahaha damn

mpar

I fail to see how the game "inspired" heroism. It taught her nothing of real life situations and actually had her act out of fear of something that could never happen. She also put her family at risk of irrepairable harm by aggreavating injuries they may or may not have had. This situation was actually made worse by an innacurate portrayal of a real life situation in a game played by someone too young to understand that what she is seeing is NOT REAL. This can actually fan the flames of Jack Thompson's fire of hate.

Let's be careful what we read into this, this is in no way a positive article about gaming; it does, however, demonstrate why there are age ratings on games and why parents should adhere to the ratings and REALLY understand the nature of the games they are letting their kids play. I pray that she never finds me injured on the side of a road somewhere and takes into account her recent skills acquired from playing Trauma Center Second Opinion.

P.S. This child is not stupid, just misinformed by a GAME interpreted as reality because she is too young to understand any better.

EvilScooter

It shouldn't be the big deal in this story, but eleven year olds shouldn't be playing GTA. I'd check if anyone else has said this but the site has gone crazy. Or I'm a drunkard.

TearsandScreams

If we start believing that Grand Theft Auto is responsible for heroism, then we should also start believing that Grand Theft Auto is responsible for crimes.

M

I think the craziest thing here is that someone writing on a blog actually called to verify the story. S'like... real journalism! The rest of the idiot blogosphere should take note here... BoingBoing, I'm looking at you.

trouserslacks

@L_K_M: yea true, but then alot of the kids are really stupid. like walking back into school after skipping lunch through the front door, or skippin 5 classes in one day, then heading to gym class. why would you miss 5 classes, then head into gym class.

d4rlp3nc1l

brilliant. thank you author.

casbar

Does the girl in the white have a threadless tshirt on? xD

Keyouse

Finally, something positive towards GTA...for the longest time people blamed everything on Grand Theft Auto, hell I read somewhere the Chinese were blaming GTA because their plants weren't growing, no joke...obviously, like posted in the above article, in real life the car wouldn't explode, unless say it caught on fire, and managed to reach the fuel...However it would blow, no matter which position the car was in....great job!

Jonathan

Yes, but she was 11-years-old and played GTA, so she must be prosecuted.

/massive sarcasm

Frank

Next thing you know, a zombie invasion is going to happen in a mall and someone will say dead rising helped them survived.

DRCAM

How sober was Fahey when he chose to post this? I mean, yes, it's awesome news... but much, much more awesome when you're drinking.

BtownDesignGuy

Okay, I agree with most folks that this doesn't have any relevance to whether GTA helped, or not. Because it's a very tenuous connection at best. She could have just as easily got the same conclusion/motivation from playing Crash Tag Team Racing, or Mario Kart.

Give me the day that someone manages to remove regenerating tumors from the gut of a dying man in under 5 minutes and quotes Trauma Center Under the Knife as being valuable training, THAT would be a great day for video games.

Byakko

-Sephiroth takes off his pants in a hurry and rams his rock hard cock in between your mammoth meatbags and fucks the soft pillowy flesh at a mind numbing pace, hearing the skin slap together.
-

Suntsu

@Fahey

I see what you're saying, but I don't want these people to read an article like this and think video games cause people to do good.

Sounds crazy?

Yeah, but if they believe that the video game influenced someone to do something like this, then they will believe that the games can cause someone to do something violent.

I don't think video games cause people to do violence to others or property or whatever. I think it is a choice.

With that belief, I also must believe that it can not influence people to do good either. Otherwise it would be contradictory.

People make choices and do things based on who they are, not the games they play. People that do things based on the games they play (or tv shows they watch)--good or bad--are not people I would want to be associated with.

So, yes, you are right when you say it could make the stupid people out there see games in a positive light, but it will reinforce their views on the negative views as well. Just saying.

stetsonblade

@angelangelv2:
Or an 11 year old child.
*rolls eyes*

TheLAG

@DePalo: your too kool for words. Tell ur nephew and niece i give em' 15 thumbs up with all 5 of my hands!

King Seafoam

"My preteen daughter recently found herself in a similar situation. She wasn't sure if random strangers would bleed to death if she stabbed them on the street or if they would just frantically shuffle away, so she simply thought back to her time spent playing GTAIV and she knew. I mean she instantly knew. It was amazing, really."

Ira Lazerburg

100% awesome

gassnake

Wow, that's so... so... stupid. Hey, it's great that she 'saved' her parents, but seriously?

Also, why is an 11 year old playing GTA? Okay, let your kid play GTA, but don't admit it to the press!

Cranker

@d4rlp3nc1l: You know, if kids do that, they most likely have a problem that can't be solved by having more checks and more rules.

@stetsonblade: Interesting point.

L_K_M

Still, she's 11 and so shouldn't be playing an M rated game.

headcrab

End is struck in Seki feather cloud length of the attention which it waited finally in waiting and the battle of the 趙 cloud child dragon!?　As for the battle of special A ranking force is different!　As expected Seki feather cloud length and the 趙 cloud child dragon either one being strong?　The development which it waits in conclusion of the battle which applied life and death!?

Suntsu

Headcrab... who cares? The fact is that even at 11 she still had the brains to do the right thing. I used to play Mortal Kombat when I was 5. People need to realize its the person that makes mistakes and not blame everything else. Those fuckheads who do stupid shit and then blame the video games are just trying to get rid of the blame.

I can turn on the television at night and see worse stuff than whats in the GTA 4. These days, the past-time for kids is to watch stuff like Gossip Girl or the O.C. Its like the hot-coffee thing. Only people who went looking for that stuff found it. It's sad that people won't allow sex in games because they think they are sheilding their kids. What do you think they'll see if they google "boobs"??

Madness

Now who's reaching? If a kid had an epiphany and just put two and two together that the sky's color was blue when he was looking around in a videogame's environment, does that mean it becomes a bullet point to the benefits of playing videogames?

I'm not denying that we can learn some things in the most unusual ways, especially when things learned are typically considered as common sense (not saying this case necessarily falls in the common sense category), but come on.

questworld

@Facemeat:

So basically you're so diehard into defending videogames of any possible wrong doing, even a theoretical assumption that violence in any form of media might be a bad influence to influential minds, that you'll actually grasp at any straw, no matter how loosely related to videogames positive effect? How does that really help other than give gamers the look of desperation.

questworld

@Daisuash:

I haven't read everyone's comments, but from what I've read I don't think people are bashing the kid for what she did. She did a sensible thing considering her situation. I think people are bashing the concept that somehow GTA is somehow accredited in the rescue. Not to say the kid was wrong (although in hindsight there were risks to moving injured accident victims, but gas leaks and fire could have been a risk you wouldn't want to waste time to assess), but the basis of what she learned from the game was more or less Hollywood make believe, which, again in hindsight, could have caused greater harm. At any rate her motives aren't in question.

questworld

All truth be told a car that is upside down is no more close to exploding that one that is right side up. As a mater of fact all gas tanks not are made of anykind of metal and are equiped with a enersha/fuel shut of swith. she was better of leaving them in the car....FAIL!

danny1987

I thought it as a joke. I really did.

Glad she didn't start running into the car in an attempt to awkwardly push it for five minutes straight off of a short cliff in the hopes of righting it somehow.

t3hdragon