The popular smartphone game "Pokemon Go" will now be disabled so that all passengers and the driver will not be able to play when the vehicle is traveling above a certain speed, the application's operator said Tuesday following a request from a local government and police in central Japan.
The change took effect globally Monday after the Ichinomiya Municipal Government in Aichi Prefecture and the local prefectural police demanded that Niantic Inc. take safety precautions following the death of two people in car accidents caused by drivers playing the game.
The city government received nine threatening emails after requesting that the U.S. operator of the smartphone app make the change following a boy's death.