The iPhone 14 and select Apple Watches have been programmed to detect when its owner has been in a vehicular accident. There has even been an instance when the iPhone alerted emergency personnel of a mishap and sent its owner's coordinates.
But like all things under development, there are still a few kinks to be ironed out. The iPhone 14 has a neat new addition which is the Crash Detection feature, but it has been detecting other extreme circumstances as an accident as well. According to CNET, the feature has prompted a call to 911 during a roller coaster ride.
Cincinnati's Kings Island amusement park, has also collectively had six similar emergency phone alerts. Six Flags Great America near Chicago has also had the same kind of incidents which also involved roller coaster rides.
How Does the Crash Detection Feature Work?
The new iPhone 14 and select Apple Watch feature uses a high dynamic range gyroscope and high G-force accelerometer. It also uses GPS, a barometer, a microphone, and advanced motion algorithms, as mentioned in MacRumors. With these, they have trained the feature on more than one billion hours of driving and crash data.
These factors allow the device to determine whether the movements and changes around the user may be identified as an accident. Once the device detects an accident or accident-like incident, it will display an alert on the screen for ten seconds.
If you were in an accident and could still respond to your iPhone 14 or Apple Watch, you may swipe the screen to call emergency services immediately or dismiss it if it detected a false crash. If you do not respond after another ten seconds, then another ten-second countdown will start, which signifies that emergency services will be called upon.
Since roller coasters can be loud, the microphone might detect distress in your surroundings. The axis gyroscope and G-force accelerometer detect four main types of crashes, front, side, rear-end, and rollover crashes.
Since roller coasters don't exactly have slow and steady movements, the axis gyroscope and high G-force accelerometer will liken it to a car crash. If the user is mid-ride, they can't exactly whip out their phones and dismiss the crash alert.
How Do I Avoid This?
If you plan on going on adrenaline-inducing rides like roller coasters, it is best to tend to the Crash Detection feature first. You can also just put your phone in Airplane mode.
If you're worried that you might miss important messages when your phone is in airplane mode, you can just disable the feature in your iPhone 14 or Apple Watch's Settings. There is also the option of leaving your device to someone while you participate in activities that mimic accidents.
So far, Apple has not yet addressed this issue, but there are various ways to resolve the issue without it being much of an inconvenience to its users. It's best to address this personally at the moment to avoid calling emergency personnel by mistake.
