A Maryland man driving a Toyota Rav-4 rear-ended a parked Baltimore Police Department patrol car while playing Niantic’s augmented reality app, Pokemon GO.
A Police body cam captured the crash early Monday morning.
CBS SF reports:
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According to the Baltimore Police Department, an officer was talking to two of his colleagues next to his parked patrol car following a service call around 3:30 a.m. Monday, when a gray SUV slammed into his vehicle.
The officer’s body worn camera captured the crash, and video was posted on the department’s Twitter page.
Shortly after the crash, the SUV driver stopped, walked out of his vehicle with a phone in his hand and talked to the officer. Investigators said he admitted playing Pokémon Go.
“That’s what I get for playing this dumb a–game,” the driver is heard saying in the video.
#PokemonGO is not all fun and games. Here is a video of a distracted driver who struck one of our cars. #PlaySafe pic.twitter.com/kOTfbTcILo
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) July 19, 2016
Police said the driver and occupants in the SUV were not injured.
“This could have easily ended in a tragedy,” Baltimore Police spokesperson T.J. Smith said in a news conference Tuesday. “It’s not a game when you’re behind the wheel of a 2,000 pound vehicle.”
At least one other crash took place involving a Pokémon Go player. Last week, a driver near Syracuse, New York reportedly crashed his car and struck a tree. The driver suffered minor injuries.
Transportation agencies across the nation, including Caltrans, have repeatedly issued warnings to motorists since the game was released earlier this month, urging them to not play the augmented reality game while driving.
Pokémon Go was developed by San Francisco-based Niantic.
