Pokemon Go Accidents – Who’s to Blame?

Pokemon Go has taken the world by storm, proving popular everywhere from the UK to Taiwan. However, after a spate of recent accidents relating to Pokemon Go, is player safety a concern?

There have been numerous traffic accidents across the globe in recent weeks, caused by Pokemon Go players. In San Francisco, a man drove his brother’s car into a tree while searching for a rare Pokemon, breaking both of his legs in the process.

In Australia, a man drove a car into a school building after losing control while using the gaming app. While no one was injured in this case, things could have been very different.

Japan and Taiwan have also seen a drastic number of Pokemon-go related traffic offenses, with 349 fines being issued in Taiwan to people playing Pokemon whilst riding motorbikes.

Those who are on foot are not spared from the possibility of injuring themselves while absorbed in this innovative game – two San Diego men fell down a cliff while playing.

While Nintendo have ensured that Pokemon Go users receive safety messages on opening the app, this does not seem to have had the desired effect.

So who’s to blame? Are the makers of Pokemon Go responsible for creating a game which has resulted in people potentially putting themselves in dangerous situations? Or are the users of the game at fault, for not exercising enough caution. After all, there are millions of people all over the world using the game without putting themselves, or others, at unreasonable risk of injury.

Ultimately, only time will tell. Whether an individual or the game itself is to blame can only really be assessed on a case by case basis at the moment. While it’s possible that Pokemon Go need to come up with some more stringent safety precautions, players need to make sure that they limit themselves to playing under safe circumstances.

Some countries are now looking at possible ways to keep players safe. Thai officials held a meeting recently to discuss putting policies in place to ensure that those playing Pokemon Go are not injured. If this is successful, it's possible that we will see this across other nations.

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