Kotaku: drunk driving

U.S. Army Buys Drunk Driving Game

Brian Crecente — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:00:00 MST

The U.S. Army is funding improvements to a drunk driving game developed at the University of Calgary, in hopes of reducing what they say is a growing drunk driving problem among soldiers returning from war zones.

Booze Cruise allows users to enter their weight and a number of drinks, then attempt to drive home using keyboard keys on their computer driving games. Reaction times are delayed and screen vision blurred, while they drive trying to avoid pedestrians, vehicles and other obstacles.

"What we're trying to show them is it's not possible to think yourself sober. Some people believe that if you just focus, you can drive really well," said Jim Parker, the University of Calgary professor of both computer science and fine arts who led the development of the game.

The game, which the army will start using in the next month or so, was initially developed in 2007, but the army provided funds to improve it.

Despite the Army's interest, Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada (how do you drive a country sober or drunk?) decry the game, saying it will just teach people how to better drive while impaired.

"We've spent decades telling people not to drink and drive, and this simulator, one of the skills it teaches is to drink so much, and then drive," said Andrew Murie, chief executive officer of MADD Canada.

Way to remain obstinately uneducated MADD.

More on the GTA-Drunk Driving Foofaraw

ogood — Sun, 04 May 2008 16:00:00 MDT

A TV station in Savannah, Ga. is out doing what Crecente and I commonly referred to as the "gratuitous local." In other words, it's a national story that doesn't have any impact specific to your locality, but you sure can dream up some because it's the kind of story that's real easy to assign. The Grand Theft Auto IV Drunk Driving story fits perfectly, and we will see versions of this for two months, if not more.

Now, you stick a camera on a cop and ask him about drunk driving, real or virtual, and what the hell do you think he's gonna say? WSAV-TV does just that and the results are predictable.

But I'm going to try to see the good here.

This is from Lt. Scott Simpkins, a traffic commander in Savannah's police department.

"Some people are going to say it can be used as an education as well as a game, this is just a game, you know you have to pick and choose your battles. Well, I'm here to tell you, Scott Simpkins as a father, I'm picking and choosing this battle," said Simpkins [who has two sons, 10 and 12 years old]

That's legit. That's fair. And if what he's saying is, any drunk driving component, no matter how secondary or nonessential to the gameplay, is another reason children under 17 shouldn't be allowed to play the game, I have absolutely no argument. It's an M-rated game.

And to its credit, the station went to online forums for gamer comment:

One says: "to anyone who hasn't driven drunk, it exaggerates the effects to a degree that i'm sure would scare someone from ever trying to really drive drunk, so it's actually helping their cause."
"Immediately, I think well good, that's the kind of response I'd hope to see, but I think that's going to be a small number," says Simpkins.

Well, rather than being cynical about it, why not say something like, "Great. For the adults who play this game, I hope this gives them an idea of how stupid and self-destructive it is to drink and drive."

Why is it valid to assume that all bad acts realistically portrayed in a game will be imitated in the real world, but it's out of the realm of possibility that those same bad acts cannot also deliver a deterrent message?

Latest Version of Violent Video Game Lets Players Drive Drunk [KSAV-TV Savannah, Ga. via GamePolitics]

Scottish Government Fighting Drunk Driving With Xbox 360

Mark Wilson — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 11:30:39 MST

The Scottish Government is worried about youth adult drunk driving. During their most recent drunk driving initiative, police caught 150 people under the age of 25 (granted, there are roughly 5 million people in Scotland, but the BBC feels the stat is important, so we're letting you know). Now Scotland is putting £10,000, or almost $20,000, behind in-game sober driving ads. They'll be popping up within online-enabled games Need for Speed: Carbon, Project Gotham Racing 4 and Pro Evolution Soccer 2008. Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson had this to say about this new campaign:

It is innovative, it is new, and it is far removed from the more traditional methods we have been using. I believe that is what we need if we are to reverse the number of Scots families suffering the tragedy of a loved one being lost.

It's good to see bureaucracy tweaking their gameplan with the times. Hopefully Scotland finds their money well-spent.

Xbox games tackle drink driving [bbc]

Drunk Driving The Video Game

Mike Fahey — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 09:20:59 MDT

Ever since Atari released Night Driver, gamers have been looking forward to what we expected was the natural progression of the title. Unfortunately we never got Drunk Driver, but a team of fine arts students at the University of Calgary have come up with a reasonable facsimile. "The Booze Cruise", the end result of over ten months of work from the students, is a PC game that simulates driving with a blood alcohol percentage three times the legal limit. With blurry vision, you have to drive home in 90 seconds without killing anyone. I hope there's more to it than just blurred vision, or it could very well be called "Driving Home From The Eye Doctor After Being Dilated Without Wearing Those Silly Plastic Sunglasses Cruise", which is entirely too long a title for a student project. Police plan to use the game as a teaching tool, while students plan to giggle while they crash into people, places, and things.

Students develop drunk driving video game [Canada.com]
Image courtesy of CanWest News Service