Crash Detection can save a life, but it also strains emergency services
As Apple works to reduce the number of false alarms created by its iPhone 14 Crash Detection, it’s also saying that users should not cancel an unintended emergency call.
The iPhone 14 introduced Crash Detection, which among many other aspects, uses the accelerometer to identify when a user has suddenly stopped. If that is sudden and there are enough other triggers, the iPhone will start the process of making an emergency call.
Where there have been problems with this is both in how often Crash Detection is accidentally triggered — and users not noticing that an emergency call has been placed. The iPhone will show an alert and even begin making what Apple describes in its support documentation as “loud whoops to get your attention.”
“If the call has been made, but you don’t need emergency services, don’t hang up,” it says. “Wait until a responder answers, then explain that you don’t need help.”
The inference, of course, is that when someone hangs up, emergency services can’t be sure it’s deliberate, and not that something else has happened to the user or their phone.
