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Driver Crashes Car Into School Because Of Pokemon Go

PokéStop(ped)... After crashing through a fence and into a building.
Don't Pokémon and drive.
AFP/Getty Images
Don't Pokémon and drive.

It was only a matter of time, really.

We've got what is believed to be the first accident caused by Pokemon Go, after a 19-year-old man in Victoria crashed his car into a school while playing the mobile game.

The mix of people staring obsessively at their phones while being prompted to travel around to unfamiliar places was always going to be a dangerous mix, and a temptation for people to hop into the car instead of just walking (as the game intended). Victorian officials have already warned citizens not to "Pokemon and drive" but it seems the message has not gotten through to everyone.

"Casey Highway Patrol is investigating after a motorist made an unplanned PokéStop late yesterday when he crashed his car into a school in Berwick," Victoria Police said in a statement.

"Police have been told the local man was trying to capture a creature from the Pokémon Go application when he appears to have lost control on Ridgemont Drive about 6.50pm."

The crash, which occured about 45 kilometres east of Melbourne, may have the dubious honour of being the first one with "Pokémon Go" as its official cause.

"It is understood the Berwick motorist was travelling north and negotiating a roundabout when he lost control at Flowerfield Close.

"He ran off the road through a fence and into a school portable building. Luckily no one was injured," police said, before having a cheeky Pokémon-themed dig at the motorist.

"The 19-year-old did not level up nor collect any stardust or candies only debris from the crash. Any PokéBalls, eggs or potions the driver may have had remaining only attracted police leaving the wild Pokémon for another day."

Police said the driver recorded a negative breath test, but that he may be charged with careless driving.

The mobile game phenomenon has sadly sparked a bit of a crime wave across the world. We've had stories of players being robbed while playing, a shootout occurring during another attempted robbery, a young football player being mistaken for a bank robber because he was so engrossed in his game, players being pelted with waterbombs and eggs after being loud in a residential park, and swarms of people blocking roads and traffic at a Pokémon hotspot in Sydney.

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