Prague Tram Driver Caught Hunting Pokémon

A local tram driver is now awaiting punishment from Prague’s transport authority for driving while catching Pokémon

Dave Park

Written by Dave Park Published on 16.08.2016 09:12:22 (updated on 16.08.2016) Reading time: 1 minute

What better way to cover a lot of Pokémon-hunting ground through Prague than riding the rails of the city’s efficient public transport system?

It just might not be the best idea if you’re the one driving the tram.

One Prague tram driver found that out the hard way when she was photographed with one hand on the (proverbial) wheel and another on a phone with Pokémon Go displayed on the screen. According to the speedometer, the tram was going 17 km/h when the shot was captured.

Twitter user Lukas Biba uploaded the pic to his profile on Friday. “The following bad habit has taken root,” he wrote. “People are playing Pokémon Go in the trams … while driving … drivers included.”

Biba’s Twitter pic was soon deleted, but it lives on in Google cache and this article from Blesk.

Screengrab: Google Cache (via Twitter / Lukas Biba)
Screengrab: Google Cache (via Twitter / Lukas Biba)

We think the picture might be doctored – the image on the phone looks too bright, and displays a different location than the tram – but yesterday, iDnes.cz wrote that the driver is currently awaiting punishment from Prague public transport authority DPP (in any event, the driver does appear to be using her phone, which is still a no-no). 

“Colleagues have identified the driver so we know who she is,” DPP spokesperson Jiří Štábl told the publication. “Her superior will have to discuss the occurrence in person with her, but has not yet had the chance to do so.”

The transport company did not specify what sanctions the tram driver might face, but automobile drivers caught using their phone in the Czech Republic face a 2500 CZK fine and two points off their license.

This isn’t the first time Pokémon have been spotted aboard Prague public transport. Gamer Tadeáš Provazník spotted creatures in a variety of strange locales, including the city’s trams, as seen in this Blesk article.

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