Pokemon Go has proven to be the new craze. Millions of people are playing it worldwide. Unfortunately, not all players are playing responsibly. A Japanese truck driver was playing Pokemon Go while driving and struck two women, killing one and injuring the other.
The driver stated he had been distracted by the game after being arrested for negligent driving during the incident on Wednesday evening, a spokesman for the Tokushima prefectural police revealed.
Even before the incident, Niantic Inc, the developers of Pokemon Go (jointly with Nintendo), had created a pop-up within the game when it detected an increase in speed beyond normal walking or running speeds. The pop-up asks for confirmation that the user is not driving, and gives the option to select that they are a rider to bypass it.
Pokémon Go mania is sweeping the US as players armed with smartphones hunt streets, parks, rivers and elsewhere to capture monsters and gather supplies in the hit game. The free application based on a Nintendo title that debuted 20 years ago has been adapted to the mobile internet Age by Niantic Labs, a company spun out of Google last year after breaking ground with an “Ingress” game that merged mapping capabilities with play. As of July 11, 2016 Pokémon Go had been downloaded millions of times, jumping topping rankings at official online shops for applications tailored for smartphones powered by Apple or Google-backed Android software.
A spokesman for Niantic Inc revealed this information to the public, though he did not say anything about plans for the developer to take further steps to guard against accidents. A spokesman for Nintendo offered condolences to the family of the woman killed.
“Pokemon Company and Niantic endeavor to create an environment where people can play the game safely and we will continue to do that,” he added when asked whether the company would take any new measures to guard against accidents.
It isn’t the first time Pokemon Go has been in hot water. The popular game craze has had crowds of people wandering parks and other public areas, leading to a fun and interesting experience, but unfortunately, also to injuries and distracted players being robbed.
Signs have been posted in Japan asking players to avoid creating a nuisance.
Another notable incident took place in Taiwan, when Pokemon Go players caused a stampede in Taipei and blocked streets in the capital. Police in Taiwan subsequently increased the fines on scooter riders that were found to be playing the game in traffic.
July saw Pokemon Go players being robbed of their smartphones in London at gunpoint, while four teens in Missouri used the game to target nearly a dozen people in armed robberies.
Japanese authorities, Niantic, and Nintendo are all asking users of the game to play responsibly.
