With Russia’s largest bank proposing Pokémon Go-related insurance, it’s clear that the virtual reality game can cause real-life accidents. Now, ArtFCity brings us the latest in perilous episodes involving the video game with a story of a man crashing his vehicle into a Baltimore museum director’s car.
Deana Haggag, executive director of the Contemporary, was startled to discover after the game launched on July 6 that her home became a battle zone. Haggag told ArtFCity that after doing some research, she learned that players of the virtual reality game were flocking to her house because it was designated as a PokéGym.
Although Haggag thought this might be because the location previously served as the temporary address of the Contemporary, the house has been dubbed the “Great Blue Heron, Fishing Gym” in honor of a mural from street artist Stefan Way located on the property.
A gamer uses the Pokemon Go application on his mobile in his car in Kuwait City on July 14, 2016. Courtesy of YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP/Getty Images.
She told ArtFCity she has a simple message to Pokemon players: “Please stop coming to my house…”
Reports of accidents, assaults, and curious incidents have been circulating since the virtual reality game first launched. Over on the West Coast, two men tumbled 50 feet down a cliff in San Diego. In Melbourne, a 19-year-old unwittingly steered his car into a school building. And myriad mishaps have swept Japan, with one man conceding that he was too “focused on the game” to notice the line of cars he rammed into at a red light.