Two Purdue University economists have written a research paper that estimates drivers playing Pokémon GO cost the U.S. economy between $2 billion and $7.3 billion in the first few months after its release.
Based on detailed police collision reports for Tippecanoe County, Indiana, Mara Faccio and John McConnell documented a disproportionate increase in vehicular crashes and associated vehicular damage, personal injuries, and fatalities in the vicinity of locations, called PokéStops, where users could have played the game while driving.
The total incremental county-wide cost of users playing Pokémon GO while driving, including the value of two human lives lost, was estimated to be in the range of $5.2 million to $25.5 million over 148 days following the introduction of the game. The researchers used these figures to estimate nationwide levels of financial loss for the same period.
