iPhone's crash detection feature assumes woman enjoying rollercoaster has been in crash, calls 911

Fans of Apple went gaga over the recent 'Far Out'event which introduced to the masses iPhone14 and "futuristic" specifications like its much-touted "Crash Detection" feature.

However, in the next few weeks, several issues have been reported with these specs. The latest as per a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report casts doubt on the efficacy of the safety feature which is supposed to help emergency services reach users ASAP in case of an accident or crash.

The report details a recent "roller coaster ride" of an incident at an amusement park in Cincinnati.

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A woman's iPhone 14 alerted the authorities of a crash as she enjoyed a ride. The phone's new car-crash detection was triggered as she "enjoyed getting hoisted 109 feet in the air and whipped around at over 50 mph".

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The phone placed a 911 call to the Warren County Communications Center with an automated voice message which said “The owner of this iPhone was in a severe car crash and is not responding to their phone.”

It also picked up the background audio from the amusement park; hoots, cheers, music and adrenaline-fueled people having fun.

As per the 911 report, an emergency response team was sent to the location but they couldn't locate any emergency. The iPhone user realised the whole thing and called the emergency services back to tell them that she is okay. Ironically she reassured them that she hasn't been in a car crash from the line for 'bumper cars'.

While the incident is in a certain way hilarious, it also raises the question of how dependable the feature is. There would be nothing funny about receiving an alert that your loved one has been in a crash, only to discover that they were having fun at a fair or amusement park and just forgot to answer their phone.

This is not to say that the emergency call is placed undetected by the user. The feature uses a combination of sensor data to assess a potential crash. If detected, it shows a message on the screen for ten seconds, following which a ten-second countdown happens, accompanied by an alarm.

Only after this countdown, emergency services are contacted. A message is also sent to your emergency contact.

However, as the incident demonstrates you sometimes forget to check your phone.

The false alarms can be scary and they will grow in number as more people buy the new model of iPhone. It has to be acknowledged that technology can make mistakes, for it the difference between a deadly crash and a thrilling ride might be non-existent.

In spite of that, there have already been multiple cases where the feature was literally a lifesaver, in one it alerted authorities to a deadly accident where a car crashed into a tree. The crash had no witnesses and without the alert, the user might have perished.

Even if scary or irritating this feature has saved lives and will continue to do so, one can only hope that Apple will soon launch an update fixing this "bug".

(With inputs from agencies)

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