Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Driver busted playing Pokemon Go

Kiri Gillespie
By Kiri Gillespie
Assistant News Director and Multimedia Journalist·Bay of Plenty Times·
25 Jul, 2016 08:10 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

NO TOLERANCE: Western Bay of Plenty head of road policing Senior Sergeant Ian Campion says there is no excuse for using cellphones while driving, not even to chase Pokemon. Photo/George Novak

NO TOLERANCE: Western Bay of Plenty head of road policing Senior Sergeant Ian Campion says there is no excuse for using cellphones while driving, not even to chase Pokemon. Photo/George Novak

Tauranga police have busted a driver playing Pokemon Go while driving.

The news comes as police start a two-week campaign targeting drivers using their cellphones while driving.

Western Bay of Plenty head of road policing Senior Sergeant Ian Campion said the police had already been targeting drivers with phones over the past 18 months - contributing to the big jump in ticket numbers.

Figures released to the Bay of Plenty Times reveal 628 people were fined a total of $49,120 for using their phone while driving in 2015. This was nearly double the 367 drivers caught in 2014 and ticketed $29,360.

Mr Campion said people caught offered a range of excuses, including a recent example which involved the mobile gaming craze Pokemon Go. "Last week staff dealt with a driver using a cellphone and their excuse was they were chasing Pokemon."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Pokemon Go is a free game app that can be downloaded for an iOS or Android smartphone. The game asks players to wander their real-world neighbourhoods on the hunt for animated monsters.

Mr Campion said police had "very limited tolerance" and anyone using cellphones while driving could expect a $150 fine. He recommended people use hands-free kits or Bluetooth.

"One of the biggest crash causation issues for us in the Western Bay of Plenty, particularly in serious injury or fatal crashes, is distraction," Mr Campion said. "Part of the distraction issue is the use of cellphones.''

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Yesterday, the Bay of Plenty Times surveyed northbound traffic at the intersection of 9th Ave and Cameron for 15 minutes, and spotted seven drivers using their cellphones.

Automobile Association Bay of Plenty chairman Terry Molloy said the issue was a "massive problem".

"Texting ... while driving is absolutely lethal," he said. "From my own point of view, anybody caught texting and driving should result in an automatic loss of licence. There shouldn't be any grey area."

Mr Molloy said texting was "incredibly dangerous" and worse than talking on a phone.

Nationally, distracted driving resulted in 22 deaths and 191 serious injuries in 2014, according to the NZ Transport Agency.

The agency listed cellphones as its number one distraction, with drivers engaged in texting 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash than other drivers.

The agency said sending or reading a text took a person's eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds. At 90km/h, that was like driving the length of a rugby field blindfolded.

Under the Land Transport (Road User) Rule 2004 drivers cannot use a hand-held mobile phone to make, receive or terminate a telephone call; create, send or read a text message or email; create, send or view a video message; or communicate in a similar or any other way.

Drivers could use a mobile phone to make a call while driving only if it was an emergency situation and unsafe or impracticable to stop the vehicle to make the call.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

04 Jul 02:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

Bay of Plenty Times

'A f****** ugly mess': Gang boss' text after fatal hotbox attack on mate of 20 years

04 Jul 12:24 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

04 Jul 02:00 AM

Peter was trapped under a tractor for hours on his Mangakino farm.

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

'A f****** ugly mess': Gang boss' text after fatal hotbox attack on mate of 20 years

'A f****** ugly mess': Gang boss' text after fatal hotbox attack on mate of 20 years

04 Jul 12:24 AM
Traffic concerns grow as Tauriko roading developments advance

Traffic concerns grow as Tauriko roading developments advance

03 Jul 11:48 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP