Washington State Police/NintendoIt was a wild world when Pokemon GO originally launched way back in 2016. The entire population of the planet seemed gripped by some kind of plague as they trespassed, walked into traffic, and even off cliffs in their desperate dedication to catching digital monsters.
While I think most of us have calmed down (and have probably stopped playing altogether) those that are still into Pokemon GO tend to be seriously into it. One such gent was recently spotted by police playing the game in his car on no less than eight phones.
Niantic LabsThe Washington Times reports that Washington State troopers came across a car parked on the shoulder of a busy highway earlier this week, and decided to pull over to see if the driver inside needed any help.
As it turns out, the drive was inside the car with a foam block with eight mobile phones slotted into it, each one logged into and running Pokemon GO. After a brief chat with the law, the driver apparently agreed to put his collection of phones in the back seat and be on his way.
The driver wasn’t arrested or given a ticket for his antics, since that the police didn’t actually see him driving and playing (which would have been a very different story). Instead, he was let off with a warning for pulling into the shoulder when it wasn’t an emergency.
Presumably the driver spotted a legendary raid or exotic Pokemon on the road, which I imagine he would have considered enough of an emergency to pull over – but I’m not sure that’d hold up as a defence in court.
#PokemonDistraction Sergeant Kyle Smith contacted a vehicle on the shoulder yesterday evening. This is what was next to the driver! Playing #PokemonGO with EIGHT (8) phones! Driver agreed to put phones in back seat and continued his commute with 8 less distractions. pic.twitter.com/tgOr16CRlm
— Trooper Rick Johnson (@wspd2pio) August 14, 2019
It should probably go without saying, but don’t drive around playing Pokemon GO on one phone, let alone eight separate devices. Regardless of whether he’d pulled over specifically to play or not, it was a pretty dumb move.
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.