iPhone is in big trouble! A large number of false alarms in car accident detection occupies rescue resources

Alex from Ao Fei Si
Qubit | Public account QbitAI

An emergency rescue center in the United States received 71 calls to the police in one weekend.

However, none of this is true...

It turned out that there was a ski resort near the rescue center, and it was now the peak ski season.

Some skiers accidentally fell, and the iPhone 14 in their pockets (or the Apple Watch Series 8 in their hands) automatically started frantically reporting false alarms.

——That's right, less than 4 months after it went online, Apple's "car accident detection" function made another mistake.

Dispatchers at the 911 center were freaking out about this, with interim director Trina Drummer complaining:

These false alarms simply waste too much time and human resources.

As soon as the news came out, it quickly attracted the attention of many Chinese and foreign netizens, and related topics even appeared on Weibo hot searches.

Some people think this "car accident detection" function is useless:

Some people also think that this function may eventually become Apple's abandoned child like 3D Touch.

However, some netizens believe that "a false alarm is better than no report at all", but this new function needs further optimization.

Speaking of which, what exactly happened in the Apple “false alarm” incident on the ski resort?

Fall while skiing triggers car accident alarm

As we all know, skiing is a very dynamic and exciting sport.

Whether you are a ski expert or an entry-level novice, you are prone to falling downhill.

But these behaviors that are quite normal in the eyes of humans may not be so simple in the eyes of some Apple devices.

Behind this, it mainly relates to a new feature of Apple: "Crash Detection " .

Currently, the iPhone 14 series, Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE 2, and Apple Watch Ultra have this feature.

According to Apple's official website, their original intention is that when the device's sensors detect that the user has encountered a serious car accident, it can issue prompts and automatically alert, which can save lives at critical moments.

Unfortunately, the development direction of things later seems to be different from the ideal...

Take skiing as an example. Someone accidentally fell, or even rolled around on the snow just because he was in a good mood, but the sensor recognized it as a serious bump.

These not-so-smart Apple devices then mistakenly believe that the owner has been involved in a car accident and automatically dial the police.

Recently, the United States ushered in the Christmas holiday, and there are many ski resorts in Colorado, and many tourists rushed to the ski resorts.

So for surrounding emergency rescue centers, the number of false alarm calls they received has skyrocketed.

For example, the emergency center in Summit County, one of the famous ski resorts , received 71 "fake police calls" from Apple over one weekend.

△ Picture source: Uncover Colorado, snow scene in Summit County, Colorado

This situation doesn't just happen in Summit County.

In places with ski resorts such as Eagle County , Pitkin County , and Routt County in Colorado , emergency rescue centers also received dozens of such alarms. Telephone.

Some people may wonder, why not turn off your iPhone or watch before making a call?

In this regard, Brett Loeb, director of the dispatch center, explained:

Many people hide their mobile phones deep in their pockets and cannot hear them at all.

Not only did they not realize in time that their iPhone or watch had called the police, they even failed to answer the call when the rescue center called them back.

Because the dispatch center couldn't tell whether the calls were genuine alarms or false alarms, they had to contact each caller and, if they didn't receive a reply, send a ski patrol officer to check on the caller's location.

So this consumes a lot of rescue resources.

In addition, 911 emergencies are handled in the order in which calls are received. In other words, these "false alarms" from Apple may also cause real police calls to be delayed...

However, there are still temporary relief methods——

Trina Drummer, interim director of the Summit County Assistance Center, called on Apple owners to manually turn off the "crash detection" function while skiing.

For example, for iPhone 14 series users, go to "Settings" > "Emergency SOS" > "Crash Detection", and then turn off "Call after severe collision".

There has been a "roller coaster own incident" before

In fact, this is not the first time that Apple’s “car accident detection” function has caused trouble since its release in September:

iPhone 14 has previously alarmed people while riding a roller coaster.

Sara White , an American dentist , put the iPhone 14 Pro in her pocket while riding a roller coaster.

Unexpectedly, during this period, the car accident detection function on the mobile phone was triggered and the 911 emergency number was automatically dialed.

And White’s iPhone sent an automated voice message, repeating it seven times:

The owner of this iPhone was involved in a serious car accident and the phone was unresponsive.

After she got off the roller coaster, she was shocked to find multiple missed calls and voicemails on her phone from emergency departments asking if she was safe.

Interestingly, when the rescue department received the call, screams could still be heard one after another...

(It can be said that the atmosphere is full)

According to certification from the local communications center, this is the sixth time a "roller coaster own incident" has occurred in this amusement park. Looking across the United States, similar incidents have occurred on roller coasters in other amusement parks.

There are times when you can seriously save people

But having said that, although "car accident detection" "causes a lot of troubles", it does play a role in saving people in many cases.

Previously, a fatal car accident occurred in Nebraska, USA. There were no witnesses around at the time. Fortunately, the iPhone 14 detected the impact and automatically called the police for help when the owner of the phone did not respond.

In addition, a user named "unclescorpion" posted in the Reddit community that the "car accident detection" function successfully helped him rescue his wife.

Not only in the United States, but also in China, some up owners conducted "human flesh testing" and concluded that the car accident detection function of iPhone 14 is available in China and will send information to 120 and emergency contacts.

Some netizens shared their experiences of previous car accidents and expressed their gratitude to their iPhones for automatically calling the police.

In fact, Apple officials also know that this "car accident detection" function needs to be refined and improved. They released iOS 16.1.2 in November, but did not explain what specific improvements were made.

As for how to improve the next step, some netizens suggested:

Might as well call the police only when your phone is paired with the car's Bluetooth.

What do you think of Apple’s “car accident detection” feature?

Reference links:
[1] https://www.macrumors.com/2022/12/26/iphone-14-car-crash-detection/
[2] https://screenrant.com/apple-crash-detection-false -alerts-colorado-ski-town/

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