Reader "Skitzo" emailed the editor of the Toronto Sun after the paper's cover story pinned a car accident that killed a taxi cab driver on Need for Speed. I yanked Skitzo's name from the exchange and pasted the text, after the jump.

More Need for Speed Blame on Accident

From: Skitzo
To: readership@tor.sunpub.com
Hello,
I've have just finished viewing Toronto Sun cover today, and might I add, you couldn't possibly be more repulsive. I'm saying this with no disrespect towards the family of the driver who was killed. How can you run a cover like that with out mentioning the teens parents? Are they not at fault teaching kids right from wrong? I myself grew up playing video games throughout my child hood, teen years and even to this day. My parents always showed me right from wrong, what is fantasy and reality. Maybe that's the issues these days' people like you pressing garbage in the media, for the masses to swallow to detour away from the real problem at hand. Parents being lazy in this day and age.
Maybe you're right; maybe the parents shouldn't be to blame, and maybe its rubbish news outlets such as yourselves pumping fictional prints like this to scare parents from the big bad video games. Hey I have a question if I rob a bank and blame it on video games, will I still go to jail? I would love to have your feed back, please email me asap.

From: Alison Downie
To: Skitzo
Hello,
Regarding today's newspaper ... the reason we did not mention the parents on the front page is because they are not facing criminal charges. Anyone who knows these 2 young men would know who their parents are. We identified the school they went to, where they live and where they are attending for post-secondary education. Both of the suspects are of legal age, so they are adults and are being treated as such by the courts.
I don't have enough information, and I doubt you do either, to determine if the parents of these young men were at fault or not. Life has taught me that good parents can sometimes have bad kids. And sometimes good kids do bad things. In this instance, there is no indication that either of these young men had any previous trouble with the police.
I must also point out that it was the police, not the Sun, that inked the video game with the accident. It is a fact that a car racing video was found in one of the vehicles involved in this crash. That's relevant information which is why we printed it. Had it been a fishing video, we wouldn't have mentioned it.
I doubt the video will matter much to a judge and I can't imagine it being used as a defence. If you believe parents are responsible for the actions of their adult children, and believe that should be in the paper, then you might consider writing a letter to the editor stating your opinion. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. I always enjoy hearing from our readers.
Best regards,
Alison Downie
Sun Readership Editor

From: Skitzo
To: Alison Downie
Good morning,

Please have a good look at your front page. http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/TorontoCover.jpg

I will give you the matter of the doubt, that yes the police did say, Need for speed video game was in the car. But yet again I point to that front cover and ask myself, "Wow so drag racing has not been around for years like I always thought it has, Sony Playstation 2 and Xbox must have invented that." I just love the way "cops say high octane video game found in car of one 18 year old charged in alleged street racing crash that left cabbie dead" and in the eye attractive color and size DID NEED FOR SPEED KILL?
Of course the sun did not link the video game to the death at all, how silly of me to think so. Please if you wish to pass this email over you're an editor. Since apparently I did at first, and now you are emailing me with this insulting reply back. I would love to hear your response.

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