The iPhone 14 and the latest Apple Watch family come with the newest safety feature, Crash Detection, which is enabled by default. Though it works, as reported earlier when a car rammed into a tree and emergency services were alerted to the accident, it appears that some false positives are still possible, such as when any of the aforementioned devices are in the owner’s possession, and he or she are sitting in a moving roller coaster.
False 911 Calls Were Being Made Because Apple’s Crash Detection Was Being Tricked Into Believing That an Actual Accident Took Place
A pattern was recently noticed by Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern in amusement parks like Dollywood and Kings Island, where an iPhone 14 or the latest Apple Watch triggered the Crash Detection feature by accident. Six separate emergency calls were made from Kings Island when visitors hopped on board and left the feature enabled. Dollywood also reported incidents like the one described above, and according to Coaster101, the amusement parks had to put up signs with the following written to prevent any such false alarms.
“Cell phones and other devices should not be brought aboard any attraction.
Due to the dynamic movement you will experience on this ride, Apple Watches and similar devices may activate their emergency call function.
To prevent your device from making unintended 911 calls, please turn it off or enable airplane mode.”
Apple Watch users, has this happened to you on a coaster? pic.twitter.com/GzfqnmjZ2J
— Coaster101.com (@Coaster101) September 28, 2022
One Reddit user, u/Rationalspace787, described his experience in a thread, concluding that Apple’s Crash Detection feature should be disabled when sitting on a roller coaster.
“So it looks like the Crash Detection feature wasn't designed to account for the forces on Rollercoasters... I had my new 14 Pro in my (zippered) pocket this weekend at Six Flags, and while I was sitting on the final break run of Joker (A ride built by a manufacturer known for more intense forces), I got a crash alert on my Apple Watch. Luckily I dismissed it before it dialed out, but it was unnerving to say the least! I have a Series 7 AW, so the crash detection must have been detected on my phone, and the watch just alerted me it was happening. If I hadn't had the watch on, it would have dialed in my pocket while I was still on the ride. Just a heads-up for those of you who frequent theme parks!”
Apple’s Crash Detection feature uses audio data picked by the iPhone 14’s or Apple Watch’s microphone, along with other sensors, to determine if a crash has occurred. A roller coaster moving at a high velocity most likely tricks the feature into an immediate trigger. It is recommended that owners enable Airplane mode before getting on the ride to avoid unnecessary hassles. It only takes a single tap and can save you and a bunch of others a boatload of time.
We would not advise you to completely turn it off by going into the Settings app because unforeseen events can happen, and the feature might save your life one day.
