Please be careful playing Pokemon Go, says road safety chief

The Chief Executive of the Road Safety Authority said people Pokemon Go players need to take responsibility for their safety when playing the game.

Moyagh Murdock urged people playing the game to be careful.

“I would be urging caution when it comes to Pokemon, not just for the risks on the road, there are other risky areas that they’ve ended up in chasing this Pokemon. People need to be aware and take care.

“It’s not just young people, it’s mature adults too chasing Pokemon Go. You need to take personal responsibility when getting involved in this game. You need to balance it with personal care.

Ms Murdock said that when it comes to pedestrians and cyclists they always “come off worse” in accidents.

She was responding to an inquest report that a 15-year-old girl died after she stepped out in front of a truck while on her mobile phone.

“This is a particularly tragic case where a young girl was knocked down while using her mobile phone. It just highlights how distracting mobile phones are in particular for the younger generation.

“We know how engrossed they can be, even in the home when they’re on their mobile. It’s no different when they’re out on the road, on the footpath where pedestrians and all road users need to be aware of the dangers and mobile phone use does take a lot of attention especially when they’re not just texting but there’s a lot more complex activities on mobiles these days and requires a lot of cognitive attention and that just distracts the road user from the risks around them.

“When it comes to pedestrians and cyclists they will always come off worse, so you must be aware of unexpected movement and actions by the vulnerable road user regardless of who is in the right.

"They will come off worse in the end. So drivers must always be aware at those risky junctions, that something could happen that they're not expecting especially when there is someone using ear phones or on a mobile," she told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.