iPhone 14 ‘crash detection’ calls 911 during rollercoaster rides: report

WASHINGTON: The iPhone 14’s new Crash Detection feature, which is supposed to automatically alert authorities when it detects a car accident, is reportedly triggering during rollercoaster rides and unintentionally dialing 911.

The feature – which works on the new iPhone 14 and Apple Watches – uses an axis gyroscope and high G-force accelerometer to detect crash. If the sensors detect an impact, the feature will automatically connect the person wearing it to emergency services.

If the wearer doesn’t dismiss the call within 20 seconds, an audio message informs emergency services of the crash and provides its location.

The feature is supposed to detect severe car crashes, and help users reach emergency services. However, it’s been mistaking roller coaster rides for crashes, according to a report published in The Wall Street Journal.

The report suggests that emergency personnel near Cincinnati’s Kings Island amusement park have received six iPhone crash-detection calls since the smartphone went on sale in mid-September. Similar alerts have been received from passengers on a roller coaster at Six Flags Great America near Chicago.

Sara White, a 39-year-old dentist, told the Journal her iPhone 14 Pro automatically called 911 when she went on Mystic Timbers, a 109-foot-tall roller coaster at Kings Island amusement park in Ohio.

“The owner of this iPhone was in a severe car crash and is not responding to their phone,” an automated voice says in the call to 911, before also providing longitude and latitude coordinates. Emergency services responded to the park, but didn’t see any such incident, as per the report.

An Apple spokesperson told the Journal the feature was developed by feeding it with over ‘a million hours of crash data, real-world driving and crash-test labs.’ He further said that Apple will continue to improve it with time.