Bail Out
A bail out refers to an act of jumping from a moving vehicle. This ability was first made available in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and has been available in most Grand Theft Auto games since. Until GTA Vice City, the player could only exit vehicles once they came to a complete stop (with the exception of ships). The ability to bail out of land vehicles in mid-air was not made available until GTA IV.
Description
Bail-outs are often used as a quick means of escaping from a vehicle which is either in danger of exploding, entering dangerous territory, or about to fall off a cliff or into water. Bailing out can also be strategically useful, allowing you to send a vehicle speeding into a group of enemies while leaving you free to attack independently. Bail-outs are executed with the same key or button that the player uses to enter or exit vehicles, while the vehicle is still in motion. In most cases, the player will lose a small amount of health as a result of hitting the ground after exiting the vehicle; in Grand Theft Auto IV, the use of ragdoll physics makes it hard to predict the amount of damage the player will take, potentially causing lethal damage to players with low health. In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the player will not lose health when bailing out.
Bail-outs can be done from aircraft, as well as land vehicles; as falls from high altitudes are invariably lethal, in GTA San Andreas players are equipped with parachutes after exiting any aircraft, to provide a chance of survival after ejecting.
See also