A few months ago, we saw another app that took the world by storm – one of the most addicting mobile apps that we have seen since Candy Crush. We are, of course, talking about the popular Pokémon Go.
If you are not familiar with the game, it is one of the reasons why every person you see on the street is looking at their phones right now.
Basically, this is how the game works:
- First you look for Pokémon by taking a walk. It doesn’t have to be a long walk — depending on your location, you can already find your first Pokémon by doing as little as talking a walk around your living room. However, gamers claim that only certain types of Pokémon spawn in a particular location. So, if you want to catch different types or ones that are more rare than others, then you would really have to go outside for a stroll.
- Just like in the original game and the cartoon series, you need Poké Balls to catch Pokémon. In this new rendition, you have to go to Poké Stops to get Poké Balls. Aside from Poké Balls, you can also get other items like Potions (for treating wounds), Razz Berries (to make a Pokémon easier to catch), and Eggs.
- Battling and taking over gyms has a different set of mechanics, but to sum it up, you have to (you guessed it!) walk to get to gyms to either train your Pokémon or to battle it out with the current Gym Leader’s Pokémon. This is one of the ways to earn Pokémon coins. The other way, is of course, to purchase them with real money.
Having listed the mechanics, you can already see the problem with the game, right? Walking or driving while playing is the perfect formula for accidents, as Attorney Big Al is starting to see. A lot of publishers such as Inquisitr have expressed their thoughts about irresponsible use of the app.
Here are some of our own:
Playing the game while walking decreases pedestrian alertness.
You are lucky if it’s just a splash of water from a speeding car driving through a puddle. What if it is something worse like getting run over by a negligent driver? Playing Pokémon Go leads to catastrophes that could have easily been avoided if the other party (in this case, the player) was paying attention. If this happens to you, call Attorney Big Al! Attorney Big Al and his associates are experts in dealing with vehicle accidents, so make sure to have 1-800-HURT-123 stored in your contacts!
The other instance is if the player is actually the one that caused the accident.
Some Pokémon spawn at unlikely spots, and ones that compromise your safety (i.e. in the middle of a pedestrian crossing, while walking down the stairs) may result in personal injury.
If you have played Pokémon Go, you are aware that the app experiences lags.
These lags are translated in real-time to accident-causing hard and sudden stops that a player makes while waiting for the app to load or for a Pokémon to be caught.
There are also the rule-breakers.
Some drivers just can’t help but tinker with their phones while driving in hopes to catch that elusive Pikachu or to hatch their 10 km eggs. This is worse than texting while driving! Kudos to the developers of the game to call out that playing while driving is not safe. However, there are just some players who are careless. Accidents caused by playing the game while driving still happen nonetheless.
Lastly, if you get too hooked on Pokémon Go, you become less concerned with your safety.
You can get robbed! This is not the usual pick-pocketing that we hear on the news. There have been reports of robbers luring people to Poké Stops to rob them.
The bottom line here is that we should always look out for our safety and the safety of the people around us. There are ways to play the game without having to look at your phone while walking (for instance, you can just turn on the vibration alert to get notified if a Pokémon is nearby).
Whether you are the one behind the wheel or the one on the street during the accident, Attorney Big Al and his associates believe that you should know your rights first and foremost!
We are here to fight for you and give you the compensation you deserve. Reach Barzakay Law Firm.