Not long after the launch of Niantic Labs’ Pokémon GO in the United States, the Washington State Department of Transportation was quick to urge fans not to play the mobile game while driving. The advent of cellphones alone has already led to a dramatic increase in car accidents, and with the unprecedented popularity of Pokémon GO, the temptation to pull out one’s phone for the possibility of a rare find might only make the overall situation even worse.

That was the case early Monday morning in Baltimore when a distracted driver playing

Pokémon GO struck his van against a police car, thankfully while the officers were on the sidewalk. No one at the scene was injured, and the only real damage was done to the cars themselves.

Footage of the accident was all captured via one of the officers’ body cams, viewable above.

The unidentified driver quipped to the officers after pulling over that “that’s what I get for playing this dumbass game” as he closed the app, but the words of one Professor Oak say it best: “Now is not the time to use that.”

No

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Our Verdict

#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



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