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Japan police: 71 Pokemon Go players cited for traffic violations

Players of Pokemon Go have been involved in 71 traffic incidents since the game's launch on Friday
Players of Pokemon Go have been involved in 71 traffic incidents since the game’s launch on Friday

TOKYO (TR) – Police in Japan have issued dozens of traffic citations to players of Pokemon Go since the launch of the popular smartphone game on Friday, reports the Sankei Shimbun (July 25).

As of 11:00 a.m. on Monday, police had issued 71 citations to persons playing the game and operating a vehicle or motorcycle. As well, players of the game had caused an accident in which ther was at least one injury. In another seven incidents, players caused in property damage.

Last year, police issued 1,954 traffic citations to drivers using their mobile phones. Of that figure, 846 involved drivers looking at the screen of the phone.

“Since it is very dangerous to operate a car or motorcycle while using a smartphone, we unconditionally want them to stop,” a representative of the police is quoted.

On Monday, a man in his 20s who was playing Pokemon Go while driving a passenger vehicle collided with a van stopped an intersection in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, according to Nippon News Network (July 25). The driver of the van, a man in his 30s, suffered injuries in the incident.

Update: The injury and property damage figures in this report have been revised (from four and 32, as previously reported) due to a mistake announced by the Nikkei Shimbun (July 29).