Don’t play while on the go, motorists cautioned

PETALING JAYA: The Pokemon Go mania has led to the Transport Ministry cautioning motorists to stay focused on the road and not be distracted by the hunt for the virtual creatures.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai expressed worry that these motorists could get into road accidents when they were too absorbed with the game.

“Please do not play Pokemon Go while you are driving. Unless you are a passenger, it is very dangerous for you to do so,” Liow said when contacted.

He urged the public to be cautious as they were not only responsible for their own safety but that of other road users as well.

“It is against the law to use a mobile phone while driving; whether to hunt for Pokemon, text or talk,” he added.

Earlier this year, his ministry launched a campaign on “Focus on the Road, Not on the Hand” to create awareness on the dangers of being distracted by mobile phones while on the road.

Apparently, the first traffic summons had been issued for what would surely be the first of many Pokemon Go related offences.

Sin Chew Daily reported that the “honour” went to a 32-year-old man in Kuantan who was pulled over by police while he and his friends were driving around hunting for Pokemon on Saturday, the day the game debuted in Malaysia.

He was slapped with a RM300 fine.

“I switched on the apps to detect the hotspots as I drove around. The catches were good. The policeman smiled when he saw the screen of my phone and then gave me a summons,” he was quoted as saying.

The augmented reality game, which made a splash when it debuted in Western countries last month, also left a trail of accidents and crime-related activities in its wake.

So far, police and Fire and Rescue Department officials in the Klang Valley reported that the central region remained “unscathed” in the first weekend of the launch, with no cases related to the game being lodged yet.

Social media has been flooded with posts from gamers who uploaded pictures of their cracked phones claiming to have damaged them while playing the game.

“I shouldn’t have gone outside,” said one player from Shah Alam, showing cracks on her Samsung phone after she fell down while playing the game.