iPhone 14's Car Crash Detection Still Triggering False 911 Calls, Forcing Dispatchers to Reallocate Resources Away From Real Emergencies

[pyroali]

While I do agree Apple needs to be investigating these false positives and doing what they can to reduce them, simplistic solutions such as working only when connected to Bluetooth or CarPlay are just not good enough and show a complete lack of understanding or consideration of so many variables.

I was unfortunate enough to be hit by a van, side on, while on my motorbike almost 3 weeks ago. No Bluetooth on my bike and certainly no CarPlay so I’m very glad Crash Detection was triggered without requiring these. My parents and partner were alerted and able to coordinate and eventually reach the hospital ahead of me, while the emergency services tried calling to confirm and dispatched a vehicle. While I wasn’t in a position to answer my phone, the call from emergency services would no doubt have served as an extra layer of dispatch prevention in the case of a false positive.

 

[ereddekopp]

Despite optimizations made in an iOS 16 update in November, the iPhone 14's Car Crash Detection feature continues to accidentally call 911 when a user may be on a rollercoaster, skiing, or doing other physical activities the device misunderstands as a car crash.

The iPhone 14's Car Crash Detection feature uses an array of sensors on the device to call emergency services if it thinks a user has been involved in a car crash. Since the feature launched with the new iPhones and Apple Watch models in September, 911 and emergency dispatchers across the United States have noted an influx of calls from iPhone 14 devices that accidentally triggered Car Crash Detection, even though no car crash has occurred.

Amid reports of false calls, Apple released iOS 16.1.2 in November, which it said made "Crash Detection optimizations," without specifying what the changes were any further. Despite the update's optimizations, the issue continues to be a problem faced by law enforcement. As reported this week by local news outlet The Colorado Sun, 911 dispatch centers in counties across the state have been witnessing an increase in 911 calls from skiers after their iPhone 14 and newer Apple Watch models misinterpreted ski falls as car crashes.
911 dispatchers are not trained to ignore a call, meaning even accidental calls caused by the iPhone 14's feature have to be dealt with and resources allocated towards, said Trina Dummer, the interim director of the 911 center in Summit County. "These calls involve a tremendous amount of resources, from dispatchers to deputies to ski patrollers. And I don't think we've ever had an actual emergency event," Dummer continued.

The accidental calls are putting a strain on emergency centers which have to reallocate resources away from genuine emergencies, especially since 911 calls are taken in order and after each other. "We are absolutely diverting essential resources away from people who need it toward a feature on a phone," Dummer noted. In Pitkin County, the 911 center is receiving up to 20 of these accidental calls caused by the iPhone 14's Car Crash Detection feature a day, according to the county's director.
In one instance at the Vail Police Department in Vail, Colorado, the iPhone 14's Car Crash Detection successfully called 911 for a real car crash, noted Marc Wentworth, the director of the Vail Public Safety Communications Center, highlighting the feature does have potential to save lives.

In Summit County, the iOS 16.1.2 update did little, if nothing, to address the issue, according to the county's director. "But we have not seen our numbers change. We are seeing as many as 20 a day, and it's a tremendous drain on our resources," said County Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons.

FitzSimons notes he has shared his concerns with Apple with reported responses that the company is aware of the issue, still though, FitzSimons says more is needed. We are communicating with Apple to get them to pay more attention to this, but it feels like we are trying to turn a battleship in a bathtub."

Car Crash Detection is available on all iPhone 14 models and the Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch Ultra, and second-generation Apple Watch SE.

Article Link: iPhone 14's Car Crash Detection Still Triggering False 911 Calls, Forcing Dispatchers to Reallocate Resources Away From Real Emergencies

More proof to me Apple needs to slow down…abandon this annual updates to OS’s and really look back at what rebuilt the company and made it great back in the day…part of that was far more thought out and stable OS releases. Each year they put out another bug filled/half-baked OS update, usually stripping it of features promised when announced…patch some bugs along the way, then alas abandon it so they can get the next release going. This is not doing them any favors, nor is it pleasing their customers.

 

[goonie4life9]

WFH Apple strikes again

Correction: Apple’s obsession with secrecy over making features work and caring about feedback strikes again.

 

[NT1440]

Correction: Apple’s obsession with secrecy over making features work and caring about feedback strikes again.

Can you elaborate on what secrecy is causing the mistaken calls here?

Or how less secrecy would make this perform better?

 

[fmillion]

I wonder how it can be legal that a phone makes a 911 call without asking the owner first. If those false calls happen to often, it will be shut down in Germany very soon, as it is a crime to make a false 911 call.

It technically does. It tells you if you don't respond the device will call 911. Naturally the logic is "if you're unconscious you obviously can't respond, so the phone will try to save your life by calling for help for you." As soon as you make active consent mandatory, the feature is useless anyway, because if you can give consent on the device you can also just dial 911 yourself.

The problem is if you're skiing or on a roller coaster you can't exactly stop what you're doing to get out your phone and respond to the detection alert, assuming you even heard it in the thrill and excitement of your activity.

The solution I see for this is for Apple to stop with their completely opaque "improvements and bug fixes" crap with respect to this particular feature. Publish the algorithms. Let other experts in the field outside of Apple help. This sorta thing honestly should be open source, so that it can be not only improved by experts across the field but also vetted by LE/emergency responder agencies. I know Apple's typical strategy is to operate in secrecy, but as soon as you're involving publicly-funded limited resources intended for emergencies, I think your right to keep that feature's details private should go out the window.

 

[No5tromo]

The 2022 line of Apple's various OS's has been a nightmare

 

[MallardDuck]

They should just geo-fence out amusement parks, ski areas, etc.

 

[JamesHolden]

This is going to result in regulation, I'm willing to bet big money on that.

Apple better get this **** under control. A good start would be to only do the 911 calling if the phone is paired to a car's bluetooth.

I'm not sure how I feel about that suggestion. On the one hand, requiring the phone to be connected to the car's Bluetooth would definitely eliminate certain accidental triggers. But aren't there going to be times when the stereo is off or the driver doesn't have a phone and there's a passenger in the car who does, but it isn't paired? Or someone is driving an older vehicle with no Bluetooth at all? These are edge cases, no doubt, but I think there will probably be more of them than one thinks.

This should be an easy fix: Integrate with Apple Maps and disable crash detection when GPS shows that you’re on a ski slope or at an amusement park.

Not as easy as you think. Lots of people ski outside ski resorts. A backcountry skier's fall could trigger the feature just as easily as a resort skier. Something tells me this feature will prove very difficult to optimize. There might simply be scenarios where it's essentially impossible for the sensors, AI, etc to distinguish between a real crash and an activity.

 

[skitidetdu]

Nobody uses Pixel phones, so its very likely this issue isn't even reported.

Didn’t take long to get a smart ass answer. Since Apple didn’t give us this feature first it would be interesting to know if the manufacturer that actually beat them to it managed to overcome this issue…without your smart ass response.

 

[ignatius345]

A good start would be to only do the 911 calling if the phone is paired to a car's bluetooth.

That's assuming everyone who rides in a car is connected to the car's bluetooth. Not always true -- maybe you're a passenger in the car, for instance.

 

[ignatius345]

I know I'm not the first to say this, but seems like a no-brainer to just geo-fence off places like ski resorts and amusement parks. It's not like the locations of these places are secret.

 

[Jpcope]

Simple fix… initiate detection ONLY when a user is using directions on maps

 

[tinsoldier]

20 False reports PER DAY is just freaking unreasonable. There are so many reasons why this is a problem.

apparently 911 gets 657,534 calls a day is 20 more really that outrageous.

Is this a problem in Europe too or just the US?

 

[ignatius345]

Simple fix… initiate detection ONLY when a user is using directions on maps

Nobody ever drives anywhere without using directions so that would work perfectly. Genius!

 

[pyroali]

Simple fix… initiate detection ONLY when a user is using directions on maps

And for those using Google Maps or any other alternative? Or driving a route you know like the back of your hand?

If running Maps is required it might as well just be a Crash Detection setting you need to turn on for every journey instead. No more issues for theme parks and ski resorts and also completely redundant for anyone who doesn’t remember to turn it on every journey.

 

[Shirasaki]

More proof to me Apple needs to slow down…abandon this annual updates to OS’s and really look back at what rebuilt the company and made it great back in the day…part of that was far more thought out and stable OS releases. Each year they put out another bug filled/half-baked OS update, usually stripping it of features promised when announced…patch some bugs along the way, then alas abandon it so they can get the next release going. This is not doing them any favors, nor is it pleasing their customers.

As long as Apple tunnel vision enough on chasing after shareholder profit and market value, the scenario above will never happen. And I think apple will not consider slowing down anytime soon.

 

[JamesHolden]

apparently 911 gets 657,534 calls a day is 20 more really that outrageous.

Is this a problem in Europe too or just the US?

That is the number of extra calls being received per day in a single small mountain county with four ski resorts. Your number is for the entire Unites States I assume. 20 extra calls for the entire country is nothing. For a small community, it's a lot.

 

[supertomtom]

Curious to know if they’re differentiating between iPhone’s crash detection and Apple Watch’s fall detection (which I presume would be much more sensitive, and more frequent near a ski resort) or are lumping the data together.

 

[DownUnderDan]

It clearly doesn't work and its impact on emergency services is unacceptable. This kind of thing, should have been self apparent if proper and exhaustive testing had been done, prior to the features launch. The crash detection feature needs to be deactivated in the operating system and its interface removed so it cannot be reactivated. This needs to be an OS update and it needs to be a priority. Emergency services, should not be asked to deal with a half baked phone feature from Apple in the course of their duties. They have enough to deal with.

 

[DownUnderDan]

As an engineer, the algorithm change should be very simple... not sure why it's not implemented yet.

Crash detected -> Verify GPS location (exclusions for amusement parks and ski slopes) -> Call or not call 911

As an engineer you should know that a skier can also injure themselves on a ski slope, or are you saying the one place it might be useful it can't be used? Here is a thought from a software engineer - the idea is stupid and the software can't be made smart enough to be used as a general purpose catch all for emergency situations. Disable it and stop putting crap ideas that are half baked and even less tested into the operating system.

 

[DownUnderDan]

Nobody uses Pixel phones, so its very likely this issue isn't even reported.

A quick five second search on Pixel phone sales found 27.6 million units have been sold over the past six years. You have a very broad definition of "nobody".

 

[chucker23n1]

A quick five second search on Pixel phone sales found 27.6 million units have been sold over the past six years. You have a very broad definition of "nobody".

“Nobody” is hyperbole, but that’s less than five million a year, compared to 200 million iPhones a year. iPhone 14 has been out for about four months, so there are probably about 70 million of it out there already.

Do false positives also happen on the Pixel? Maybe. But it affects a fraction as many people.

 

[TechNutt]

This should be an easy fix: Integrate with Apple Maps and disable crash detection when GPS shows that you’re on a ski slope or at an amusement park.

This should be an easy fix: Hold users accountable

I thought you could get fined for placing false 911 calls?

Should occur still, intentional or not

Really sad that this would’ve resulted in a major scandal a couple of years ago and now it’s just another of Apple’s seemingly never-ending **** ups. How you don’t think to test with such activities before launching such a feature with millions of people throughout the world is something that only the Apple of today can do despite charging more and more ✌️


You could. But I think this doesn’t apply when the device itself is responsible because this is totally a **** up by Apple, not the customer.

Laying blame on Apple and not the user. Is Apple the blame for not having the feature 5 years ago?

As an engineer, the algorithm change should be very simple... not sure why it's not implemented yet.

Crash detected -> Verify GPS location (exclusions for amusement parks and ski slopes) -> Call or not call 911

Accidents occur in various ways for everyone, regardless of location

Pixel phones have this feature turned OFF by default for pretty obvious reasons. I didn't even know it was a feature my Pixel 6 Pro was even capable of and I've been using the phone for over a year.

20 False reports PER DAY is just freaking unreasonable. There are so many reasons why this is a problem.

Should be off and then the user turns it on when necessary

For sure. The crash detection algorithm and its inputs (accelerometers, GPS, microphone, post-crash movement, camera, etc) need to be further considered and adjusted. Apple will get there.

This I have faith in! 🙏🏽

this is a user problem

💯

Knowing the cost of a false alarm which would trigger emergency team (ambulance + crew + emergency doctor, around 1000.- CHF - which is quite similar to 1000.- USD) even when at short distance from the main hospital, this can be a real issue for iPhone users.

Again, the onus is on the users for failure of turning it off when skiing or riding coasters

I wonder if/when an emergency response delayed by one of these calls leads to a loss of life or permanent injury and the victim could sue Apple?

Lawyers will use any angle of weakness and the people who hire them

After a big crash, if the owner is not conscious (which is the exact use case of this feature) the iPhone should be not moving anymore, so it should just trigger the call after x seconds of zero sensor activity after the crash detection is firing. That would filter those cases and then you don’t need to guess the place via gps which is prone to errors (you can crash your car around a skiing station) or checking if the Bluetooth of the car is connected (some people don’t do that, and also the car could be damaged or turned off because of the crash)

This is the best and most OBVIOUS solution. I know of a guy that had constant falls but one time he had a near-fatal one. He had significant loss of blood from head trauma, so these finicky gadgets really can be a life saver. He is one potential customer that would benefit from this technology.

Now I don‘t expect too many people who had/has ‘Life Alert’ aren’t skiing or going on thrill rides, but it would be interesting to see how they handled functionality and processes outside of homes.

As an engineer you should know that a skier can also injure themselves on a ski slope, or are you saying the one place it might be useful it can't be used? Here is a thought from a software engineer - the idea is stupid and the software can't be made smart enough to be used as a general purpose catch all for emergency situations. Disable it and stop putting crap ideas that are half baked and even less tested into the operating system.

What is 100% besides death and taxes? Some even escape taxes. Is this tech a money grab for stockholders or Apple’s attempt to make the world a better place? Remember, Apple is a business through and through, so I ask the question rhetorically.

 

[insoft.uk]

Apple can't even do the most basic checks like is the iPhone stationary if not end.

 

[bkaus]

Are other products like the Pixel phones having the same issue or just Apple's products?

Pixel is off by default. Not sure anyone has enabled it?