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Skiers Accidentally Triggering iPhone's Crash Detection Feature
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This is the quality content I'm in the comment thread for.
So, it’s the electronic version of ”The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” Unfortunately, there is no lesson to be learned from that story.
But hey Suzie Butterfield doesn’t mind!
Just have Your emergency 🆘 connected to my phone number. I’ll drive from Southern California to come save you!
Listen, I’ll tell the jokes here. 😏
If they did, it would be "by accident", not "on accident".
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
Suspended
Are you afraid of falling or accidentally activating the crash detection feature?
Just as 99% of house and business alarms are false so apparently are Crash Detection alerts. They’ll get treated with the same routine urgency as alarms.
I would just keep this feature turned off. My F-150 can already automatically dial 911 in the event of a severe accident and a phone is connected through bluetooth.
Inevitably, as companies like Apple increasingly abuse public services to increase profits:
www.theonion.com
Police Race To Scene Of Car Alarm
BROOKLYN, NY–Municipal law-enforcement officials leapt into action with swift and immediate dispatch Tuesday, when a car alarm went off in the parking lot of a Park Slope condominium complex, alerting citizenry and police alike that a Saab Turbo convertible was in peril.
www.theonion.com
Dude, you just said the trail you were on was called “Tinkerbell”. Enough said
The dispatcher said she dies not mind — that is nice of her, of course. But we are only at the beginning of ski season and the Holidays that have the big crowds are still to come. I am wondering if an increase in false alarms due to Apple‘s crash detection “beta“ tech could impede the efforts to help people who really are in an emergency.
The Crash Detection feature built into the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, and new Apple Watch models is causing skiers to accidentally dial emergency services, according to Utah news site KSL.
Designed to summon help when a car crash is detected, the Crash Detection feature can be activated at ski resorts, and Summit County dispatchers in Utah have seen an increase in 911 calls.
"We will get a call in that says the owner of this Apple Watch or iPhone has either had a severe crash or they've been involved in a car accident," Summit County Dispatch Center supervisor Suzie Butterfield told KSL.
With many of the activations, people don't respond at first because they are unaware that the call was placed. "They're usually like, 'Oh, I'm sorry, I was skiing. Everything's fine,'" said Butterfield.
Three to five emergency calls from Apple devices are coming in per day, and so far, none have been activated on purpose. Butterfield said that she doesn't mind the accidental calls because the feature could be useful in an actual emergency situation.
Reddit users have confirmed that skiing can trigger the Crash Detection feature, with one user explaining that he was going down a hill at a moderate pace when his Apple Watch started to dial 911.
In addition to Crash Detection on the iPhone 14 models, the Apple Watch Series 8, the new Apple Watch SE, and the Apple Watch Ultra, there's also a fall detection feature on a range of Apple devices that could potentially result in emergency calls as well.
Butterfield said that she does not recommend turning the iPhone and Apple Watch safety features off. "We don't mind taking that call because if something really did happen, we want to be able to get to you," she said.
The Crash Detection feature in the new iPhone and Apple Watch models has also been triggered by rollercoasters, and just today, Apple released an iOS 16.1.2 update that includes "Crash Detection optimizations." Apple has not provided information on what this means, but it likely is aimed at cutting down on accidental triggering where there has not been an actual car accident.
Thanks, justiny!
Article Link: Skiers Accidentally Triggering iPhone's Crash Detection Feature
I suppose if they really wanted to prevent most false alarms, they could have this feature only active when CarPlay is connected. However, you are of course excluding a lot of situations if that’s the case.
Technically it is working correctly.
If the skier crashes and hurts themselves it could be life saving. it’s the same with a car accident. It might call 911 and no one is hurt.
According to numerous articles, dispatch centers receive multiple accidental calls daily ever since cell phones became a necessity in today's world. Crash Detection didn't invent the 911 "butt dial." If accidental calls were that much of a problem, we would have heard about years ago.
As these two comments pointed out, the issue is more of a statistical problem than "this feature is a failure" problem. Sure, it'll get better, but having this feature "not work" is the wrong way to think about it. It's not possible for anything to always work when you want it to, and to not work when you don't want it to. You have to assume either type 1 or type 2 errors. I'm sure this'll get better over time, but it doesn't seem like a serious failure as of right now.