The UK is using ‘Gran Turismo: Sport’ to improve their police force’s driving skills

The UK is using 'Gran Turismo' to help improve the high-speed driving skills of its police force.

With the latest installment to the popular racing series, 'Gran Turismo: Sport', about to release, racing fans and fans of the franchise itself are waiting in the red to get back behind the wheel. While normally, 'Turismo' is nothing more than an amazing racer played by gamers the world over, the UK is using the game to make its citizens a bit safer.

The police force of Lincolnshire, UK is being trained at the Nissan GT Academy in Silverstone to drive more accurately and reactively by practicing on models using 'Gran Turismo: Sport' as a simulator, all expenses paid by PlayStation. The results were promising after officers took a lap in an actual squad car, then tried to hone their maneuverability in the game. Lap times and stability showed some definite improvement and the method is now being considered to supplement their officer's initial training.

Ass. Chief Constable Shaun West had this to say:

"If Gran Turismo can help to train world class racing drivers, then we were keen to explore whether it could offer anything to our officers and help expand the way we think about evolving and refreshing our training methods."

Gran Turismo: Sport releases October 17th!

[BBC News]