Grand Theft Auto Insurance?

Most people will have to buy an auto insurance policy at some point in our lives. It can be a sobering reminder of adulthood, but it’s an essential protection for one of your biggest investments. For a group of video gamers, the first time they purchase car insurance might be through the Grand Theft Auto V video game.

That’s right, the latest installment of the controversial Grand Theft Auto series, in its online version, allows players to purchase car insurance policies for their virtual cars. If their car is wrecked or stolen, they pay a deductible – much as they would in real life, and the auto respawns.

Criticism of the GTA franchise

For those unfamiliar with the game, here’s why the GTA franchise is controversial. The “game” allows players to immolate criminals and, as they try to climb to the top of the organized crime ranks, they kill other characters, steal cars, drag race, steal money, and commit a plethora of other crimes, including violence against women.
Critics have savaged the game since the original release in 1997. That, however, hasn’t put a dent in its popularity – the latest iteration generated more than $1 billion in sales in its first three days on the market.
Despite the game’s extreme level of violence, GTA V is exposing a generation of gamers to car insurance, which could be a good thing. The added element of the online game teaches players that in order to protect their cars, they need an insurance policy. So will exposing players to car insurance in the game make them more likely to purchase a policy in the real world?

Insurance outside the game

All states require some form of auto liability insurance. Despite that, the Insurance Information Institute (III) estimates that about 14% of drivers in the U.S. are uninsured.
Driving without insurance has some serious real life consequences. If you cause a wreck, you could be personally responsible for paying the medical expenses of the people injured in it. You also could be liable for their lost wages. Plus, you’ll have to pay to repair or replace the vehicles involved – including your own.
Even if you don’t have a wreck, you could end up with hefty fines, a suspended license and a damaged driving record. And when you finally wise up and purchase a policy, you’ll pay much higher premiums. That’s because you’ve had a lapse in coverage, and auto insurance providers hate lapses.

The long-term effects

Some GTA players have noted the oddity that a game filled with so much illegal activity would include something as mundane and real world as auto insurance. While it may seem out of place in a virtual world full of crime, it’s still one of the first games to include an option to buy an insurance policy. While it’s clearly a play for the video game developer, Rockstar North, to make money, it’s also pioneering the inclusion of insurance policies in video games, which could have positive effects on players.
Video games, such as Grand Theft Auto, have been under fire for promoting violent behavior. However, not as much attention has been paid to the potential positive effects. In a 2012 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Joshua Lewis, a computational analyst at the University of California in San Diego, said, “There has been a lot of attention wasted in figuring out whether these games turn us into killing machines.” Lewis, who has studied 2,000 video game players, added, “Not enough attention has been paid to the unique and interesting features that video games have outside of violence.”
Make no mistake, GTA isn’t a pillar of promoting positive behavior, but it’ll be interesting to see if the inclusion of car insurance translates to players becoming more likely to purchase real-world policies. If so, developers could begin including more of these real world aspects across the board. For many, video games serve as an escape from the real world, but the promotion of responsible behavior shouldn’t go unconsidered.