iPhone 14's Crash Detection Mistaking Roller Coaster Rides for Car Crashes

[JM]

So how are you going to talk condescendingly about smart devs not considering roller coaster edge cases while also not considering the more common accidents in underpopulated and rural areas like single-vehicle deer strikes or one/two-vehicle accidents caused by drunk drivers when other motorists are less likely to be around due to it being late at night. Drive on secondary roads away from cities and it is common to not see another vehicle for a while.

Or angry people who chuck their phone across the room in frustration! 😱

 

[Alex Cai]

Wut? It will just be in the pockets of those on the rollercoaster.

there are are warning signs at Disney not to take valuable objects

 

[Larsennet]

I was at Cedar Point last week, was on quite a few rides with phone zipped in jacket. No issues (feature is turned on).

Only rides I have ever seen that force you to leave phone is at Orlando's Islands of Adventure. VelociCoaster and Hulk. You have to go through a metal detector.

 

[TallManNY]

The one thing that seems to be escaping those posting here is that there might not be an easily detectable statistical difference between the forces exerted by a car crash and the forces exerted by a roller coaster, particularly if the accelerometers on the iPhone are max'ed out. It makes you wonder how many G's roller coasters subject the punters to.

In any case, no doubt signs will go up in amusement parks to turn off crash detection on iPhone before going on their roller coaster rides. Indeed, it will be like the warnings about heart conditions and pregnancy on Space Mountain - it will be a selling point for those acceleration addicts who consider it badge of honour to go on a ride that could trigger crash detection.

I wonder if continued movement could be programmed into the algorithm to stop the 911 contact. Meaning, if crash detected, then call, but if phone continues to move quickly (which accelerometer should detect on a roller coaster), then cancel call. I can't see any real world crash that doesn't come to a complete stop in a matter of seconds.

Will agree that a warning sign on the ride won't dissuade riders. And it might be a differentiating feature for the rides.

 

[JM]

Also, Google has had a similar crash detection feature on its phones for a few years and they don’t appear to experience the same amount of false positives as Apple’s.

So if the only solution is to disable Crash Detection or not carry the iPhone while riding roller coasters then Apple has to tweak the algorithm or admit the hardware is faulty or too sensitive. Let’s hope it’s not any of the latter.

That’s because it’s probably terrible.

 

[JM]

I wonder if continued movement could be programmed into the algorithm to stop the 911 contact. Meaning, if crash detected, then call, but if phone continues to move quickly (which accelerometer should detect on a roller coaster), then cancel call. I can't see any real world crash that doesn't come to a complete stop in a matter of seconds.

Will agree that a warning sign on the ride won't dissuade riders. And it might be a differentiating feature for the rides.

I bet it’s the end of roller coaster rides when they come to an abrupt stop, so it wouldn’t be moving fast afterwards.

 

[diamond.g]

I bet it’s the end of roller coaster rides when they come to an abrupt stop, so it wouldn’t be moving fast afterwards.

That is the case for Lochness at Busch Gardens. Because of the sudden stop it triggered. I was wearing my phone in a running arm band.

 

[SnappleRumors]

"As a software developer, you should always think about edge cases..."

Hardly a pointless feature.

Perhaps you should be thinking of edge cases where having an accident in some areas will not always be in an area where there are other drivers.

I will be leaving that feature enabled on my phone.

Anytime I see a post where someone writes, “As a software developer…” my eyes start to roll.

 

[TallManNY]

I bet it’s the end of roller coaster rides when they come to an abrupt stop, so it wouldn’t be moving fast afterwards.

Well there you go, then the what I suggested is already programmed in there. In that case, the user might be able to reach their phone. But I guess it might not be in a reachable spot and also if you drop it at that point and it ends up in the tracks, that would be at best a significant inconvenience.

 

[I7guy]

Who takes their iPhone on a roller coaster in the first place?

I would think apple will tuning the detection algorithms or provide a kill switch.

 

[Premium1]

I am 100% sure theme parks would not allow guests to bring their phones onto the rollercoasters.

I am 100% sure you are wrong.

 

[SnappleRumors]

Unless your pockets have zippers, your phone is considered a loose object.

Like my wallet and keys and money and lighter and medication and camera and sunglasses and watch and chart of the periodical table?

 

[I7guy]

iPhone 14 and watch 8 suddenly became even more pathetic. The single new feature available to all those who don’t live in the us and do not ovulate is actually unreliable (not triggered in some car crashes and triggered in events that are not car crashes). An unreliable safety feature is way worse than not having the feature at all, as this risks triggering false alarms and wasting emergency services time, possibly delaying response to actual emergencies. Apple needs to change course as the current one is looking really really bad.

Having a feature that works (even if it’s not 100%) is better than one that doesn’t when YOU NEED IT.

 

[decafjava]

What world we are living in - living at the mercy of our phones.
If this is a problem that is worth making a big deal out of.... Jesus!

There is a mental recession going around this planet, not just financial.

Turn the darn car crash detection before jumping into such rides and go about your life.
Humanity has reached the peak of boredom and makes drama about the most irrelevant things.

What's next? Without devices we won't go out of the house soon? 🤕🤕🤕

We won't need to go out of the house probably.

 

[Premium1]

What world we are living in - living at the mercy of our phones.
If this is a problem that is worth making a big deal out of.... Jesus!

There is a mental recession going around this planet, not just financial.

Turn the darn car crash detection before jumping into such rides and go about your life.
Humanity has reached the peak of boredom and makes drama about the most irrelevant things.

What's next? Without devices we won't go out of the house soon? 🤕🤕🤕

Lol you went on that rant because a feature apple implemented can't tell the difference between a crash and a rollercoaster (which should be an easy solution to geofence around amusement parks. But yeah blame the user...

 

[MajorFubar]

I'd argue that they could check for movement after the initial crash detection. That should help to rule out a number of more common edge cases.

Might help rule out certainly everything except extreme edge cases. Apple will probably issue a dot update that basically does exactly this.

Inbetween time, and in fact even afterwards, just use a bit of common sense. It seems to be getting less and less prevelent by the day as we rely more and more on machines for thinking.

 

[MajorFubar]

Lol you went on that rant because a feature apple implemented can't tell the difference between a crash and a rollercoaster (which should be an easy solution to geofence around amusement parks.

You're not the first to suggest this as a workaround in this thread, and it's still a dumb idea.

 

[I7guy]

Some people on here literally will defend their daddy Apple whenever they can despite how illogical it truly is. It’s wild

When you pay for my phone I will be more than happy to adopt your “world views”. Until then your opinion (just like mine) isn’t worth the cost of the bits used to transmit the information.

However, I’m sure this feature will be smoothed out over time.

 

[Abazigal]

Seeing articles like this, hot on the heels of Google claiming that Apple copied said feature from them, makes me wonder if Google's own crash detection feature never got any coverage because it simply flat out didn't work? You won't have issues of google phones mistakenly calling emergency services if it never gets triggered.

Conversely, the iPhone 14 has only been out for a few weeks and we already have numerous reports of said feature.

Same with AirTags. Suddenly, we have airlines threatening to ban it because it's proving to be too effective at locating missing luggage, even though bluetooth trackers like Tile have been around way earlier? Did the airlines simply not care before this, or did Tile trackers simply not work?

 

[Premium1]

You're not the first to suggest this as a workaround in this thread, and it's still a dumb idea.

Not a dumb idea at all, just another piss poor implementation from apple and their work from home engineers.

 

[Agent4797]

As a software developer, you should always think about edge cases when developing a new feature. And rollercoasters should have been an obvious one. I guess that the last 3 remaining smart devs at Apple were all working on the dynamic island.

This is a pointless feature that I will disable as soon as I get my 14 pro. Most likely when you’re having an accident, other drivers will see you and dial 911. Like it already happens.

I’m sorry but I find it funny that you mention edge cases but don’t seem to understand that this feature is for an edge case where there is no one else on the street to call 911

 

[Force332]

The accidental trigger of Apple's latest safety features is likely caused by the sudden breaking and movement of roller coasters, triggering the iPhone's sensors to misinterpret the movement as a car crash.

Breaking vs. braking. Might want to look into the difference.

 

[addamas]

As a software developer, you should always think about edge cases when developing a new feature. And rollercoasters should have been an obvious one. I guess that the last 3 remaining smart devs at Apple were all working on the dynamic island.

This is a pointless feature that I will disable as soon as I get my 14 pro. Most likely when you’re having an accident, other drivers will see you and dial 911. Like it already happens.

From someone who works in automotive SW:
There is eCall build in every car now (forced for Europe) which will call emergency when detects a big collision with this car.

eCall - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

For Northern America there is similar system in GM group.

This Apple system should have been built to work only in car (when connected to car entertainment studio), when maps are running or something else is triggered before a drive or with easy to use toggle in Control Center to disable it temporarily.

 

[JM]

That is the case for Lochness at Busch Gardens. Because of the sudden stop it triggered. I was wearing my phone in a running arm band.

Wooooo! Many fond memories of running to Loch Ness at 10am park opening to be the first in line. 😁

Imagine car crash detection on the Drachen Fire 😂 worst roller coaster ever (for your head and neck).

 

[JM]

Well there you go, then the what I suggested is already programmed in there. In that case, the user might be able to reach their phone. But I guess it might not be in a reachable spot and also if you drop it at that point and it ends up in the tracks, that would be at best a significant inconvenience.

Every coaster I’ve been on, it stops and you have to wait for several seconds for the train in front of you to clear out before moving again.

The bars don’t come up until you’re in the station, so access to pocket is not usually possible for chest harnesses.