‘Pokemon Go’ Playing Driver Accidentally Hits Two Women, Ends Up Killing One

Niantic Lab's popular mobile augmented reality entry in the "Pokemon" franchise, "Pokemon Go," ended up as an indirect cause of another fatal accident recently when a man who hit two elderly women in Japan and ended up killing one of them admitted to playing the game while driving.

The news was shared by the Japanese NHK and ANN media networks, and shared via Kotaku. The details of the accident state that at around 7:25pm in the city of Tokushima, a man reportedly ended up hitting two elderly women who were crossing the street with his car.

The man, a 39-year-old named Keiji Goh, said the accident occurred as he was reportedly not paying attention to the rode due to the fact he was playing "Pokemon Go" at the time. Further investigation found out that the women hit were Sachiko Nakanishi, 72 years old, and Kayoko Igawa, 60 years old.

Although Nakanishi was immediately transported to the hospital, it was too late as the injuries she suffered eventually killed her. Meanwhile Igawa survived the accident, although reports indicate the injuries she sustained were grave.

Keiji Goh was later arrested by the authorities, who reported Gog's statement that he "was playing 'Pokemon Go' while driving" and thus he did not "really see what was in front" of him while operating his vehicle.

Although Nakanishi's unfortunate fate is Japan's first death in relation to "Pokemon Go," as reported by the Japan Times, the two women's accident is only among the latest of the recent spate of increasing unfortunate incidents and other negative occurrences with regards to the game's global release.

Though the game has met with overwhelming positive reception and boasts millions of players worldwide, complaints have arisen about the game due to that same popularity. A couple in Detroit previously issued a lawsuit against the game's owners and developers after they felt their peaceful life disturbed by the dozens of players loitering near their home due to a nearby public park being designated as a "Pokemon Go" hotspot.

Other accidents have also surfaced up in countries other than Japan, with people reportedly ending up walking off a cliff while distracted by the game with others crashing their vehicles into trees while playing the game behind the wheel similar to Keiji Goh.

The accidents are despite regular warmings by both the game and the authorities not to play the game while driving, or otherwise engaging in possibly dangerous activities that they should not be distracted from.