A man has just proved that playing Pokémon Go while driving isn’t a good idea

By Trevor Mogg July 28, 2016

street cars pokemon go taxi rides news pokemongo 3 1200x0 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Cops in Melbourne, Australia clearly had an inkling that something like this would happen. That’s why it put up signs around the city telling people, “Don’t drive and Pokémon.”

Apparently out playing the global phenomenon that is Pokémon Go, one 19-year-old driver didn’t see the school that suddenly appeared in front of his vehicle, causing him to smash right into it.

The unnamed local man “was trying to capture a creature from the Pokémon Go application when he appears to have lost control,” the police said in a Facebook post.

Things began to go awry for the driver as he was negotiating a traffic circle. Negotiating a traffic circle with a smartphone stuck in front of his face. While playing Pokémon Go.

“He ran off the road, through a fence, and into a school portable building,” the cops said. There were no reports of injuries.

Aware that Pokémon Go fans would be keen to hear all the details relating to the unfortunate incident, the cops’ post continued, “The 19-year-old did not level up nor collect any stardust or candies only debris from the crash,” adding, “Any Pokéballs, eggs or potions the driver may have had remaining only attracted police, leaving the wild Pokémon for another day.”

The driver is expected to be charged with careless driving.

Pokémon Go, the new augmented-reality smartphone game that’s taken the mobile gaming world by storm since its release just a few weeks ago, is clearly a wonderful creation for getting people into the great outdoors again, but it’s also a game best played on foot rather than while driving a large piece of heavy machinery.

Aware of this fact, ride-hailing company Uber has messaged its vast fleet of drivers, warning them to look out for other drivers playing the game, as well as Pokémon Go pedestrians wandering distractedly into the road.

Not one to miss a money-making opportunity, the company is also encouraging its drivers to learn the location of nearby Pokéstops and gyms so they can go there in the hope of giving rides to players keen to head to the next hot spot.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

Gaming

Volgarr the Viking 2 will take you back to your Ghosts ‘n Goblins days

A viking slashes a tree in Volgarr the Viking 2.

Developer Digital Eclipse is working on a surprising project: Volgarr the Viking 2. The 2D retro sequel will launch on August 6 for PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

The news is an out of left field reveal. The first Volgarr the Viking game released in 2013 and was made as an ode to 1080s classics like Ghosts 'n Goblins. Despite being a small release, it sold over 1 million copies over the past decade. As revealed during today's Guerrilla Collective stream, the series is coming back with a new sequel by Digital Eclipse, the team behind this year's Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story.

Gaming

3 Days of Play PS Plus games to try this weekend (June 7-9)

Key art for Streets of Rage 4.

June 2024 is shaping up to be a pretty great month for PlayStation players. Not only are we coming off an entertaining State of Play showcase, but a new Days of Play initiative surrounding all the video game showcases this month is bringing a lot of new PS Plus additions with it. Many of those games hit PS Plus this week, and three in particular stand out to us.

For owners of Sony's oft-neglected PlayStation VR2, the first game is one of its rare exclusives that take full advantage of the headset's eye-tracking by seeing how often players blink. The next is a new PS Plus Essential game that's a revival of Sega's classic beat-'em-up series for the modern gaming era. Finally, the last title is an atmospheric and eerie fishing game that should entice fans of Lovecraftian horror.
Before Your Eyes

Gaming

3 first-party Xbox Game Pass games to try this weekend (June 7-9)

Gears 5 Kait Hero Close Up

Microsoft will hold an Xbox Games Showcase and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Direct. this Sunday. These shows will provide a much better idea of what to expect from Xbox over the course of the next year or two. That's really needed right now, as Microsoft has struggled to keep online discussions around Xbox positive as it went multiplatform with some games, laid off thousands of developers, and outright shut down the developers of Hi-Fi Rush and Redfall. Based on leaks and my personal expectations for the showcase, there are three games you can play on Xbox Game Pass this weekend to prepare for the event.

The first is the latest first-person shooter in a long-running series by id Software that might be getting a medieval-set spinoff. After that, we have the fifth entry in a sci-fi Xbox series that still looks fantastic on Xbox Series X/S even though it came out in 2019. Finally, you can prepare for Avowed with the latest RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, a satirical sci-fi game where player choice is critical.
Doom Eternal