Study Shows Thousands Of People Play Pokemon Go While Driving
We all have a laugh and a joke about being so addicted to Pokemon Go that you play while driving - but unfortunately that’s not a joke to thousands of people…
In a new study, “more than 110,000 people” tweeted about being either a distracted driver or pedestrian while playing the game. “OMG I’m catching Pokemon and driving,” one example states.
In this study, the JAMA Network analysed 10 days of Twitter posts that contain the terms “Pokemon” and “driving,” “drives,” “drive” or “car” between the 10th and 19th of July.
After a sample of 4,000 tweets were analysed by human investigators and estimates were made based on population levels, they indicated that there were “113,993 total incidents on Twitter in just 10 days.” 18% of those indicated that the person was driving and playing Pokemon Go, 11% said they were a passenger and 4% a pedestrian.
Beyond this, JAMA Network also searched Google News for reports containing the words “Pokemon” and “driving” for the same time period, finding that 321 traffic accidents and 14 crashes were attributed to the game!
“Just saw a kid get clipped by a car trying to catch a Pokemon.” Tweet
So while Niantic claim they are taking user safety seriously - adding on-screen warnings and restricting gameplay elements when travelling at speed - do you think they’re doing enough?
WATCH WHAT HAPPENED WHEN POKEMON GO LAUNCHED IN THE UK
Alongside the scientists, 50% of the British public and the future health of young people across the nation, I have one simple request: delay Freedom Day, please.