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Could Pokémon GO pose a safety threat to cyclists?

The augmented reality game, released in Australia, New Zealand and the US last week, could prove a big hit by bike - but is it safe?

Augmented reality app, Pokémon GO, was introduced in the US and Australia on Tuesday, and it’s already the No. 1 free app on the US iTunes App Store, with 5m downloads on Android.

Pokémon GO is an updated version of the ‘90s game, in which you seek out and capture Pokémon (compound of Pocket Monsters), train them and stage battles. The app uses your phone’s GPS to alert you to Pokémon locations, and digitally overlays virtual maps and Pokémon onto real world scenes from the phone’s camera.

While we don’t know when it will land in the UK, (the game’s developer, Niantic, has put the brakes on worldwide roll out because servers can’t cope with demand) we also don’t know how exactly people will set about finding the monsters, or how much attention they'll pay to their surroundings while doing so.

AA warns of "zombie" pedestrians and cyclists

However, the early signs are perhaps telling. Within 30 minutes of the game’s release one American user broke a metatarsal after walking into a ditch pursuing a Pokémon.

The Pokémon GO website says: “For safety’s sake, never play Pokémon GO when you’re on your bike, driving a car, riding a hoverboard, or anything else where you should be paying attention”.

Although users are advised against playing while cycling, perhaps inevitably people are already using bikes to track down and capture Pokémon. 

Or, as one Aussie user put it: “Catching Pokémon and bike riding at the same time – maximum efficiency”.

The user in question shared this video of himself playing Pokémon GO on the bike, with mixed success. He does crash, but it doesn’t appear he was distracted by the game at the time.

Another user posted an image of his  Pokémon GO bike setup, with the caption “I’ve waited 18 years to finally do this”.

Pokémon GO user bike setup (image by Steampunk 85)

 

Some say cycling is the perfect way to catch Pokémon, and hatch the eggs, which requires you to be physically travelling – a minimum of 2km per egg, according to one user. With the speed cap for detecting the creatures set at 10mph cycling would seem preferable to driving or walking.  

Of  Pokécycling one Reddit user said: “I don't think this is at all safe at any speed. If you're like me and constantly are tempted to look at your screen it's only a matter of time that you crash your nice road bike.”

“Flicking a pokeball while biking, he gonna catch-em-all kinds of injuries,” said one.

Another said: “I hit a pole while catching Pokemon, my right STI shifter is scuffed but I got the Pikachu so it's all good.”

While some have questioned how safe it is riding while checking your phone for monsters, perhaps we should be more concerned about distracted driving.

There are already reports of collisions happening due to motorists distracted by the app, with some collected in this post on Jalopnik.com.

Meanwhile, in the US, the Washington State Department of Transportation took to Twitter to tell people not to use the app while driving.

One enterprising soul has come up with a solution, for $10 per hour.

Pokémon GO designated driver offer

 

Meanwhile, Australia’s Northern Territory Police have warned users to take care on roads, after a “Pokéstop”, where users can restock on supplies, was planted in a Darwin police station.

Officers sent a good-natured message to gamers, saying they can catch the pokeballs from outside and don't need to come in.

“It's also a good idea to look up, away from your phone and both ways before crossing the street. That Sandshrew isn't going anywhere fast,” officers added.

(for what someone playing the game looks like from the outside, see below).

Game risks aren't restricted to self-inflicted physical injury. One woman, Shayla Wiggins, was led to a dead body last week playing Pokémon GO, while in a separate incident armed robbers used the game to lure unsuspecting players into secluded spots.

A spokesperson for Sustrans, the sustainable transport charity, said: “Our recent research shows that children today spend half as much time as their parents playing outside. Anything that gets people active outside, walking and cycling in parks is a bonus, as long as you only play when you reach your destination, not on your bike!”

Rules for safe Pokécycling, according to one player:

1.As long as you keep you speed below 15mph your phone can be set to vibrate when a pokemon pops up on the map. I feel this through my handlebars every single time it happens. This means you do not need to keep your eyes on the phone and you can focus on the road.

2.If/When your phone does vibrate, look around and check your surroundings, and make your way to the shoulder to stop. DO NOT JUST BRAKE WHERE EVER YOU ARE. I found that even if I stopped a good 15-20 feet away the pokemon would stay on the map and i would still be able to engage it from far away.

3.Once you come to a stop, get out of the way for other people/bikers. Get as far over on the shoulder, or onto grass so other people can use the path without you obstructing it. In reality, once you catch maybe 10 pokemon on your bike, it becomes super easy. Most of the time it takes me about 10-15 seconds to catch a pokemon and get back to the map screen. Thats plenty of time for someone to pass you and be inconvenienced by you blocking the path.

4.DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CATCH POKEMON WHILE RIDING! Im going to go ahead and admit to doing this once, AND ONLY once. its scary as hell to look down at the screen and when you look up you are a couple 100 feet away and you have no idea that bigfoot walked across the street to take the loch ness monster out on a date. /s you get the point

5.Turn off AR mode when riding, so you don't have to take you phone off the bars when trying to throw pokeballs at pokemon. This way you can just toss and throw since the app doesn't require use of the camera, making the Pokemon appear directly on your screen and not up in the air towards your right.

Sensible advice.

What is Pokémon GO?

If you haven’t heard of it, Pokémon GO is an augmented reality (AR) game in which you seek out Pokémon (compound of Pocket Monsters) in real world locations. A Pokémon Go app uses your phone’s camera to show real world scenes, onto which it digitally overlays maps and Pokémon characters. The characters tend to be in public parks and recreation areas. Players also collect supplies from Pokestops and can train their monsters in “gyms” – often parks or other open spaces – against other players’ Pokémon. It has been compared with popular AR game Ingress and, perhaps unsurprisingly, some of the same locations are used.

You capture the Pokémon for your collection by throwing a ball at them; the ball hoovers up the Pokémon and it’s yours – pretty much like it was in the ’90s.

You then fight battles using the captured monsters, and can form teams with friends and claim locations for the team.

Laura Laker is a freelance journalist with more than a decade’s experience covering cycling, walking and wheeling (and other means of transport). Beginning her career with road.cc, Laura has also written for national and specialist titles of all stripes. One part of the popular Streets Ahead podcast, she sometimes appears as a talking head on TV and radio, and in real life at conferences and festivals. She is also the author of Potholes and Pavements: a Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network.

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15 comments

Avatar
Rfel | 8 years ago
0 likes

Nearly wiped out a few kids today and narrowley missed a pair of zombie teens as the Pokemon craze sweeps Perth. This could be worse than dogs on extending leads or buses.

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Yorkshire wallet | 8 years ago
0 likes

I guess this beats staring at your power meter. Maybe this is what Chris Froome is really doing on stages!?

I read on another site that dodgy types set a poke-trap and then rob you off your phone when looking for pokemon. What a world we live in. 

Avatar
tritecommentbot | 8 years ago
1 like

No need for that guys, just ask him to provide a logical proof for his statement and watch the tumbleweed roll by smiley

 

It's was just a meaningless off the cuff remark. I was going to pull him up on it yesterday, but why bother, people say random NIMBY-ish crap all day, devoid of context and industry insight. Roll the eyes and move on enlightened

Avatar
fukawitribe | 8 years ago
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@brooksby agree - augment doesn't necessarily imply 'greater' as in "Hey, that's great !", rather an increase in extent. Not sure it would have to downgrade it either, our senses aren't all that...imagine being able to have infrared and/or UV overlays and look at the night sky or animal markings -visualise magnetic field strength or flux lines - increase audible range - all sorts of things. I think i might just appreciate things even more myself. Not for everyone of course, just a thought.

PS. Never too much sci-fi  3

Avatar
LarryDavidJr | 8 years ago
1 like

The day I decide that this is more fun than just riding the bike you can shoot me in the face.

 

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Initialised | 8 years ago
0 likes

When is Strava going to do an AR app synced to live segments and a heads up display?

StravAR?

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mike the bike | 8 years ago
0 likes

So this is an AR game (Augmented Reality)?

Augment:  verb : To make greater, to increase.

How does this game augment reality?  Every time you tinker with the real thing you degrade it.  You may make it something else or make it fit your purpose but you surely are not making it more real.

Perhaps they should call it a DR game (Diminished Reality).

Avatar
Ghisallo replied to mike the bike | 8 years ago
0 likes
mike the bike wrote:

Perhaps they should call it a DR game (Diminished Reality).

Excellent observation. Hopefully the novelty of this thing wears off quickly.

Avatar
brooksby replied to mike the bike | 8 years ago
2 likes
mike the bike wrote:

So this is an AR game (Augmented Reality)?

Augment:  verb : To make greater, to increase.

How does this game augment reality?  Every time you tinker with the real thing you degrade it.  You may make it something else or make it fit your purpose but you surely are not making it more real.

Perhaps they should call it a DR game (Diminished Reality).

I think it's 'augmented' in the sense of 'adding extra technological gew-gaws to reality'.  Like the Borg are augmented humans (I need to read less sf).

Avatar
Daclu Trelub | 8 years ago
1 like

Harmless fun, but there will be stupid, stupid people who will do this in charge of cars, bikes, trucks, whatever.

Then it's anything but harmless.

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tritecommentbot | 8 years ago
0 likes

I actually this sort of game is the future of exercise. With more tailoring, I don't see how runners can't all be heading out catching virtual Pokemon, scoring points as they go, driving them on for an extra few miles to one up their friends.

 

Augmented reality is coming, as are driverless cars. We'll have to rethink and adapt to a new world sooner rather than later. No matter which innovation comes, none I doubt will ever be as lethal as the driven car and infrastructure and speeds to support it. 

 

Everything pales in comparison. Give me people catching Pokemon, jogging in to work and driverless buses and hordes of cyclists any day over the status quo.

 

 

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Mungecrundle | 8 years ago
2 likes

Offering people a phone / tablet related distraction as they walk, cycle or drive around in public areas.

I do hope that the app also comes with a great stereo soundtrack that requires earbuds firmly rammed into both lugholes.

 How about special camouflage clothing, to help you creep about unseen by the pokemon you are hunting (and the real humans who exist in the fantasy world you left behind)?

What could possibly go wrong?

We might have to rethink our policy on victim blaming.

Avatar
iUpham | 8 years ago
0 likes

I have this game. Surprisingly fun.

If you are on Android and want it here in the UK you can download the APK.

The advise given above about Cycling with Pokemon GO is pretty spot on. Although I personally wouldn't mix the 2 activities. Why on earth would you want to keep stopping and starting....

But Cycling to the local pokestop/pokegym to then play the game, yeah that's ok.

I do think this is one of those games that will get boring quick though.

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danthomascyclist | 8 years ago
2 likes

People are stupid

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tritecommentbot | 8 years ago
0 likes

You can still get Pokemon Go on your iPhone. Just change the settings. Sign out of your ID, then go to change region in the Language & Region area. Change to US. Go back to the App Store and search for Pokemon Go, then hit Change Store. 

 

Done.

 

Works for any region specific app you want. Like Apple News before it was released in the UK, you could grab it this way too.

 

More of a Bug Princess guy myself anyway, so no clue if this game is worth the download.

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