As smartphone app Pokemon Go's popularity explodes, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is reminding drivers to stay focused on the road instead of their devices.
The DOT's 511 Wisconsin account tweeted a photo from the intersection of I-39/I-90 and Cottage Grove Rd. of a sign that reads "Drive now, catch Pokemon later."
Pokemon Go is a no-go when driving #DropTheDistraction pic.twitter.com/aPB25XjwGu
— 511 Wisconsin (@511WI) July 13, 2016
The game allows people to catch virtual creatures known as Pokemon "in real life" through a technology called augmented reality (read a good explanation in the New York Times here).
While the latest iteration of Nintendo's beloved franchise has gotten legions of gamers off the couch, that's not to say the game hasn't attracted its fair share of negative coverage as well. A teenager in Wyoming stumbled upon a real corpse while he was hunting for virtual characters, and police in Missouri say criminals have used the game to lure victims into robberies.
Locally, two teenage boys were caught climbing the roof of a Brown Deer church to hunt for Pokemon. Bay View's Avalon Theater had announced they would screen a Pokemon movie to celebrate the app, though that has since been postponed.
