In the provocatively titled "Death by Pokemon Go" (which has been shared online but has yet to be peer-reviewed), Purdue professors Mara Faccio and John J. McConnell studied nearly 12,000 accident reports in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, in the months before and after Pokemon Go's July 6, 2016 launch. The authors then cross-referenced those reports with the locations of Pokestops in the county (where players visit frequently to obtain necessary in-game items) to determine whether the introduction of a Pokestop correlated with an increase in accident frequency, relative to intersections that didn't have them. While the incidence of traffic accidents increased across the county after Pokemon Go's introduction, that increase was a statistically significant 26.5 percent greater at intersections within 100 meters of a Pokestop, compared to those farther away. All told, across the county, the authors estimate 134 extra accidents occurred near Pokestops in the 148-day period immediately after the game came out, compared to the baseline where those Pokestops didn't exist. That adds up to nearly $500,000 in vehicle damage, 31 additional injuries, and two additional deaths across the county, based on extrapolation from the accident reports.

The study uses a regression model to account for potential confounding variables like school breaks and inclement weather, which could cause variation separate from Pokemon Go. The model also compares Pokestops to Pokegyms (where it was nearly impossible to play while driving) to account for the possibility that generally increased traffic to Pokemon Go locations was leading to more accidents, even among drivers who stopped and parked before playing. In all cases, though, being able to compare to intersections without a Pokestop and to the same dates the year before, helped provide natural control variables for the study.

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Based on detailed police accident reports for Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and using the introduction of the virtual reality game Pokémon GO as a natural experiment, we document a disproportionate increase in vehicular crashes and associated vehicular damage, personal injuries, and fatalities in the vicinity of locations, called PokéStops, where users can play the game while driving. The results are robust to using points of play, called Gyms, that cannot be used to play the game while driving as a placebo. We estimate the total incremental county-wide cost of users playing Pokémon GO while driving, including the value of the two incremental human lives lost, to be in the range of $5.2 million to $25.5 million over only the 148 days following the introduction of the game. Extrapolation of these estimates to nation-wide levels yields a total ranging from $2 to $7.3 billion for the same period.

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jatt said:

What a study

Being distracted whilst driving causes problems

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WaterAstro said:

How about Trump tweets?

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ZAMtendo said:

?

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Sailent said:

People still play that?

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Greg_le_Casual said:

Some people play it to death.

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Greg_le_Casual said:

Some people play it to death.

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Garnox said:

Not surprising. I was guilty of playing it while I drove real slow around our neighborhood. Quick glances at phone, but nothing to the point where I'd be swerving or hitting anything.

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yophlow said:

Wow, the fact that you somehow try to justify your behavior as being OK is the scariest part.

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Vbrasa said:

They never tried justifying their behaviour, they were just admitting to doing it...

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yophlow said:

Uhhhh....

"Quick glances at phone, but nothing to the point where I’d be swerving or hitting anything."

That's clear as day. If he said "Quick glances at phone, which I understand is still not OK and I regret it" then that would be an admission. But no, he claims that quick glances at his phone wouldn't result in him swerving or hitting anything, trying to justify his incredibly dangerous driving.

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jatt said:

What a study

Being distracted whilst driving causes problems

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