POKEMON GO

If you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ll have heard about the new smart phone craze called Pokemon Go. Having never played it, I imagine I’m quite the expert on how it goes. All I know really is that you throw balls at the critters and somehow this catches them.

I consider myself lucky that my two kids haven’t shown any interest in it – at least, not so far. They’ve returned to school from school holidays though now so I’m bracing myself for the “Can we get this game” argument.

It’s not just kids getting into the game though, it’s adults too. And the more I hear about the game, the more I’m hearing about injuries that are happening. Seriously, the list is massive:

Broken toes
Rolled ankles
Running into poles/buildings
Cut hands
Unlimited bruises

And the big ones – Serious car accidents caused by players driving carelessly while chasing pokemon OR being hit by cars while not paying attention in the street! YES! This has actually happened to quite a few people. Can you believe that? Can you imagine presenting at an emergency room and having to tell them you got injured playing Pokémon?? Embarrassing doesn’t really cover it.

Several of these injuries have been reported to have an 8-12 week recovery time. More if you’re one of the unlucky ones that’s been hit by a car.

So I implore you – before you recklessly play this game, before you hit the streets searching for Pikachu  check you have your life insurance in place.  Make sure you have income protection insurance too because if you’re going to head out to dark alley’s in the middle of the night to throw pretend balls at imaginary creatures it’s likely you’ll have a potential claim for temporary insanity.

I have to say I’m very concerned for civilization when there are so many people taking instructions from fictional characters. But if you’re going to following mythical instructions, please do it safely!

Shannon Bennett – Southern Cross Financial

www.scfin.com.au