Grand Theft Auto is being used to make real roads safer and potentially save lives

Grand Theft Auto is famous for letting players cause absolute chaos on the streets, but researchers are now using GTA 5 to make real-world roads safer and potentially save lives.

From high-speed police chases to smashing through traffic, Rockstar’s open-world franchise has never exactly encouraged responsible driving.

However, according to a new BBC report, scientists around the world have discovered that GTA 5’s detailed environments and realistic physics make it an incredibly useful tool for road safety research.

The game’s traffic systems, weather conditions, and ability to recreate dangerous situations allow researchers to conduct experiments without putting anyone in actual danger.

And unlike expensive professional driving simulators, GTA 5 provides a massive virtual world that’s already built and ready to use.

“Since GTA V does not enforce traffic rules on players, practically any traffic situation can be replicated on purpose,” Julius Schöning, a professor of engineering and computer science, said.

Take-Two Interactive

Researchers are using GTA 5 to prevent real-world accidents

At Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences in Germany, researchers modified GTA 5 to test new safety technology designed to protect cyclists.

One device attaches to bicycle handlebars and vibrates when vehicles approach from behind, increasing in intensity as they get closer. Another prototype uses a vibrating vest to give cyclists a sort of sixth sense for approaching traffic.

Volunteers tested the technology on stationary bicycles while navigating virtual streets in Los Santos, complete with trucks passing dangerously close.

Both devices successfully warned participants of approaching hazards, although neither has become a commercial product.

Meanwhile, researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands used eye-tracking technology to study how cyclists react to hazards, including car doors suddenly opening and vehicles pulling out of parking spaces.

The findings could eventually help engineers design safer roads and intersections.

Perhaps the most surprising use of GTA 5 involves self-driving cars.

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have used in-game crashes to train artificial intelligence to recognize dangerous drivers and avoid potential collisions.

Rockstar Games

Another team at Eastern Michigan University tested an AI decision-making system across nine dangerous scenarios in GTA 5, finding that it could reduce the potential loss of life by approximately 24% in simulations.

While those results don’t establish how the technology would perform on actual roads, they highlight how a game built around reckless driving could help researchers develop safer vehicles.

With GTA 6 launching on November 19 and taking Rockstar’s realism to another level, researchers are already interested in using its massive open world for future experiments.

However, they’ll need Rockstar’s permission before they can start turning Vice City into their next road safety laboratory.

“Its potential as a research tool remains immense,” one researcher said.