Pokémon Go has “inspired” people to do many, many dumb things, but among the dumbest is playing the game while behind the wheel. In Bangkok, that’s meant the city’s already notorious traffic has just gotten worse, so city authorities have decided to start handing out tickets.
The issue is that Bangkok’s busiest roads are suffering a one-two punch of drivers distracted by Pokémon nearly flattening pedestrians and pedestrians who are barely paying attention to the terrible drivers who might run them over because they might finally catch that Snorlax they can never seem to find. And keep in mind that being on the road in Thailand isn’t all that safe in the first place. So if trainers get caught playing the game on Bangkok’s main roads, they’ll be issued a ticket of up to $28.
Mostly the idea is to make people aware of their environment and play the game safely. But also keep in mind that hopping in a car and driving around sort of violates the spirit of the game, which is premised on exploring the world around us and discovering things we didn’t know about our neighborhoods, like that right down the street, there’s an abandoned hot dog cart. Besides, is catching a Pikachu really worth risking death? Save that for a Legendary!
(Via Mashable)