apple inc‘s AAPL latest smartphone line includes a crash detection feature that alerts emergency responders if the device’s owner is involved in a car collision, but it also appears to be triggered by roller coasters.
What happened: According to a, law enforcement agencies have been notified multiple times after iPhone users took rides at amusement parks report from the Wall Street Journal.
Johanna Sterna reporter for the Journal said she received six recordings of calls triggered by iPhone crash detection Warren County Communications Center. Those calls were triggered by iPhones from rides at Kings Island amusement park outside of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Stern wrote that similar warnings were also reported from the Joker roller coasters at Six Flags Great America near Chicago. The reporter also shared a video of one such call on her Twitter profile.
Since the iPhone 14 went on sale, the 911 dispatch center near Kings Island amusement park has received at least six calls stating:
“The owner of this iPhone was in a serious car accident…”
Except that the owner just happened to be on a roller coaster.
from me: https://t.co/hp1fHZBIf6 pic.twitter.com/i0lZPoWzGz
— Joanna Stern (@JoannaStern) October 9, 2022
Apple did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comment.
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Why it matters: The Director of Emergency Services for Warren County, Melissa BorShe said: “You get used to non-emergency calls, but it’s a drain on dispatchers,” the Journal reported.
At least one user whose iPhone triggered crash detection was reportedly unable to reach his phone even when he heard the alarm go off because he was still strapped to the ride.
Recently a YouTube channel “TechRax” cars collided head-on to illustrate how the crash detection feature works on an iPhone 14.
The feature does not need to be set up, but can be disabled in Emergency SOS settings Tim cook-managed company.
