Involuntary Ejection
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An involuntary ejection is an occurrence in the Grand Theft Auto series in which the player, while on a vehicle, is involuntary thrown off or out of their vehicle. This is commonly the result of a collision, but other actions may result in the player being thrown off anyway. The ability serves as a penalty for reckless driving, and attempts to simulate a certain degree of realism in vehicle accidents.
Motorbikes and bicycles
GTA 1
When motorbikes were first introduced in Grand Theft Auto 1, this class of vehicles was given a drawback, to offset its superior maneuverability, in which the player will be dismounted from their motorbikes when they hit any object, including vehicles and buildings, at a certain speed or higher, throwing the player out front. This feature is used largely to discourage recklessness while riding motorbikes, as collisions and subsequent dismounts will often result in wasted time because the player would have to return to the motorbike and get up again. A minor deduction in health is also given as a penalty for the collision.
Likewise, NPCs on motorbikes can easily be dismounted when the player hits them with a large vehicle at high speed.
GTA Vice City - GTA Chinatown Wars
Since GTA1, the feature has been present in all GTA games where motorbikes are available to be controlled, including Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.
When motorbikes were reintroduced in GTA Vice City, more conditions that result in dismounts were added, in which the player can also be thrown off while pulling the bike to far back (during a wheelie) or pushing to far to the front (during a stoppie), or while the motorbike is rolling backwards at over a certain speed. This system has remained unchanged in GTA games which recycles GTA Vice City's game engine (GTA Liberty City Stories and GTA Vice City Stories).
Bicycles, which debuted in GTA San Andreas, applies the same weakness to counter their versatility and support for bunny hops. In addition to dismounts from collisions and bad control of the vehicle, the player may also be dismounted from a bicycle during a collision with a pedestrian in GTA San Andreas (when motorbikes could still run over pedestrians with no problem). For GTA San Andreas, improved bike and cycling skills will improve the player's ability to hold on to a bike or bicycle while rolling backwards.
GTA IV still applies the same set of rules with regards to motorbike dismounts, although ragdoll physics is now used when the player is thrown off their bike, making it difficult to ascertain the degree of injury the player may sustain in such a crash. The susceptibility to dismounts also varies between GTA IV and its DLC, The Lost and Damned; in GTA IV, even a minor-to-moderate collision may propel the player off their bike; as the player character in Lost and Damned is more accustomed to motorbikes, however, the risk of him being tossed off a bike is lower.
Cars and aircraft
Involuntary ejections from a car or aircraft is a feature introduced later in the series, after Grand Theft Auto IV. If the player is traveling at a high speed and they smash into an object or vehicle, there is a good chance they will be propelled through the windshield. If a player is ejected through the windshield, the windshield will break and the player will be flung out of the vehicle, from which point GTA IV's physics engine sends the player's ragdoll rolling and bumping to a stop. The feature is also known to be applied to the game's helicopters.
Although being ejected from the windshield rarely results in death, the player may fly out of the windshield into oncoming traffic which can cause major damage to the players health. If a player is ejected into an oncoming vehicle, especially if they are on a road where traffic moves fast (such as on a highway), the player may risk being killed. Like dismounts in GTA IV, the effects of such an ejection can be catastrophic if the player is low on health.
See also