Playing Mario Kart saves lives

Video games are often labelled as a time wasting exercise that offer nothing more than a bit of escapism but it's fair to say they have much more value to them than that.

Take Gryffin Sanders, a ten year old boy who was riding in a car with his younger brother and his 72 year old grandmother in Golden, Colorado. According to a KUSA-TV report, she passed out while driving at a staggering 60mph, which would have been a scary situation for anyone, let alone a ten year old.

However, instead of panicking, young Gryffin leant across and took the wheel before the car could steer into the oncoming traffic. Once he had control of the car he then directed it into a ditch at the side of the road and thankfully nobody was injured.

After the incident Gryffin was asked where he learned his driving skills and he responded by saying it was all thanks to Mario Kart. It's likely it was Mario Kart Wii, what with the Wii Wheel peripheral, and we're glad Gryffin got so much practice in.

My first thought was actually "is this a test, or what?". I tried to wake her up at first. Then, I just took the wheel and drove it into the ditch. I wanted us to get us somewhere we could get out of the way of traffic, I guess.

Naturally, Gryffin's parents were very pleased with him and his dad Sean said:

It was all him and he made a very wide decision at a very critical moment and I couldn't be a prouder father.

No doubt Gryffin can now play video games whenever he likes, regardless of how much homework he's got.

[source youtube.com, via 9news.com]