Grand Theft Auto Blamed for Increase in Car Surfing Deaths

The American Association of Neurosurgeons has released a paper that claims that deaths due to car surfing increase when Grand Theft Auto games are released.

The paper - 'Neurological injuries from car surfing' by Arthur Wang, B.S., Alan R. Cohen, M.D., and Shenandoah Robinson, M.D. states in part:

"An interesting finding is the chronological overlap between the introduction of the Grand Theft Auto games, Jackass, and YouTube, and the rise and peaks in car-surfing fatalities. The first major rise in fatalities in 1998–1999 overlapped with the release of the first 2 editions of the Grand Theft Auto video games.

"A second major rise in fatalities between 2000 and 2002 occurred with the release of Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Jackass the television series (2000–2002), and the premiere of Jackass: The Movie in 2002.

"Coinciding with the introduction of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in late 2004 and YouTube in early 2005, there was a third peak in the fatality rate between 2004 and 2005. "

So, Jackass is in there as well. Surely that's to blame?

"During the years in which no new edition of Grand Theft Auto was released and Jackass was not aired, there was a coincident drop in car-surfing fatalities."

We've tried to track down something to be said about hideous bias in the American Association of Neurological Surgeons' work, but nope. So, basically kids, as if you didn't know - car surfing is more likely to lead you to death by having your head bashed into the ground, or a bridge, or an overhead light than not car surfing.


See the full report here.