Idaho Law Blog
It’s hard to imagine more distractions for driving. A few currently include email, texting, phone calls, and checking phones. Now we have a new one known as Pokemon Go.
Pokemon Go is a game that people play on their cell phones as they walk, or drive, around the community. You may have observed the behavior; people walking around a park, on a sidewalk, or even across a crosswalk. The game requires the player to find digital creatures called pokemons that are found in certain locations reached by the phone. Once a player collects a certain amount of pokemons, they can battle at “gyms” which are again identified by the phone.
One can imagine the havoc that can be wreaked by such a game. People walking around in busy traffic areas, driving cars, or riding a bike all while looking at their cell phone. One Texas driver crashed into a tree while playing pokemon. A Pennsylvania teenager was hit by a car when she absently walked into a busy street while playing the game. In Vermont, a drunk driver turned out to be sober, but playing pokemon when he caused an accident.
In the past I’ve written about the dangers of texting and driving. Taking your eyes of the road to look at a text takes about five seconds. At highway speeds, a car travels about the distance of a football field in that amount of time.
Pokemon would likely require more time for eyes to be away from the road and on a cell phone. It would appear that this new danger is something that must be addressed. This is especially true of our children since it seems less likely that an adult will be playing than a youngster. We need to be good examples when we get in the car. Put on our seatbelts, put our phone away, and follow the rules of the road. All of us can do a little better to make the roads a safer place.
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