Involuntary Ejection

Niko Bellic having been ejected through the windshield of an Oracle after a high-speed collision with a lamppost.

An involuntary ejection is an occurrence in the Grand Theft Auto series when the player or an NPC is involuntarily thrown off or out of a vehicle, commonly as result of a collision.

This feature primarily serves as a penalty for reckless driving, and attempts to simulate a certain degree of realism in the game's vehicular accidents. The tendency for the player to be thrown out of vehicles varies among vehicle classes and models, but hitting any NPC's vehicle at a high speed with a large vehicle may result in their ejection.

Motorcycles and bicycles

GTA 1

In Grand Theft Auto 1, the player will be thrown forward from their motorcycle if they collide with vehicles and buildings past a certain speed. This feature offsets the motorcycles' superior maneuverability and nimble nature, and discourage recklessness. Players lose health when thrown.

GTA Vice City — GTA Chinatown Wars

All GTA games containing motorcycles exhibit involuntary dismounts, 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 motorcycles were reintroduced in GTA Vice City, more conditions for a dismount were added; the player can also be thrown off when leaning the bike too far back during a wheelie, too far forward during a stoppie, or while the motorcycle is rolling backwards over a certain speed. This remained unchanged in GTA games which recycled GTA Vice City's game engine (GTA Liberty City Stories and GTA Vice City Stories). Bicycles, which debuted in GTA San Andreas, are particularly vulnerable —— unlike with motorcycles, hitting pedestrians with a bicycle will throw the player from the bike. Improved bike and cycling statistics will improve the player's ability to hold onto a motorbike or bicycle during low-impact collisions, or while rolling backwards.

Grand Theft Auto IV continues to apply the same set of rules with regards to motorcycle dismounts, although ragdoll physics is now used when the player is thrown off their bike, making it difficult to predict the degree of injury the player may sustain. In GTA IV, even a minor to moderate collision may propel the player off their bike; susceptibility to dismounts was adjusted, however, in GTA IV's DLC, The Lost and Damned. As the protagonist in Lost and Damned is more accustomed to motorcycles, the risk of him being thrown off a bike is lower.

Cars and aircraft

Involuntary ejections from a car or aircraft is a feature introduced later in the series, with Grand Theft Auto IV. If the player is traveling at a high speed and they smash into an object or vehicle (particularly an immobile one) head on, there is a chance they will be propelled through the windshield. If a player is ejected through the windshield, the windshield will shatter as the player is flung forward out of the vehicle, from which point GTA IV's physics engine sends the player's ragdoll rolling and bumping to a stop, inflicting damage with each impact. The feature also applies to the game's helicopters. It can be assumed that the protagonist may not wear a seat belt, at least on certain occasions, resulting in the tendency for him to be thrown out.

Although being ejected from the windshield is unlikely to kill a protagonist in decent health, the player may be thrown into oncoming traffic, risking collisions which will cause major damage. If a player is ejected straight into an oncoming vehicle (especially in places where traffic moves fast, such as a highway), the player risks 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

• Bail out, a voluntary ejection from a vehicle.