Last month, a woman’s brand-new iPhone 14 informed Ohio authorities that she had been in a terrible vehicle accident and was unresponsive, when in fact, she had been on a roller coaster.
Last month, on a day trip with her family to Kings Island, an amusement park north of Cincinnati, Sara White, 39, made the courageous choice to ride the Mystic Timbers rollercoaster.
The dentist, according to the Wall Street Journal, kept her two-day-old phone inside her fanny pack while she was raised 109 feet into the air and whirled about at more than 50 mph.
However, she was unaware that her iPhone’s new car-crash detection technology had detected the abrupt acceleration and braking and had presumed she had been in a serious collision at the time.
The user of this iPhone was in a serious collision and is not answering to their phone, it said in an automated message sent to dispatchers at the Warren County Communications Center when it contacted 911.
During the almost two-minute conversation, the message was repeated seven times as background music and background yelling were picked up.
When White exited the vehicle, she saw that her lock screen was covered with missed calls and voicemails from an emergency dispatcher wondering whether she was OK.
Officers were sent to the roller coaster when she failed to reply once again, but they were unable to find an emergency.
White eventually learned what had occurred while ironically waiting in line for bumper cars and contacted the police again to let them know she was OK.
Since the new iPhone 14 models went on sale in September, the Warren County Communications Center has received six bogus iPhone crash detection reports from the Kings Island amusement park.
The Joker roller coaster at Six Flags Great America outside Chicago has also sparked similar alarms, depleting the resources of neighborhood police agencies.
Emergency services director for Warren County Melissa Bour said, “We are extremely diligent about calls.” “No call gets screened,” it says.
It wears on the dispatchers, but you grow accustomed to calls that are not emergencies.
The new iPhone 14s features a sensor with a high-G accelerometer that can identify several types of automobile accidents, including “side-impact, rear-end collisions, and rollovers,” when the user has been involved.
It searches for accident indicators, such as a quick halt or a sharp deceleration.
The phone will first show a warning for 10 seconds before beginning a 10-second countdown and an alert sound if it senses a crash.
If the alert is not silenced within those ten seconds, the phone will telephone 911 and send a message with location information.
Anyone registered as an emergency contact will also get an alert.
The “crash detection” function only works while a vehicle is in motion.
The accident detection algorithms, according to an Apple representative, were verified using more than 1 million hours of crash data, real-world driving, and crash-test laboratories.
The business improved the function for getting people aid while avoiding false positives, he continued, adding it is “very accurate in identifying catastrophic accidents.”
However, the representative pointed out that Apple will keep developing the functionality.
However, iPhone owners have been experiencing problems with the new technology in the meantime.
On September 17, Douglas Sonders said his iPhone 14 Pro went from the handlebars of his motorbike while he was riding down the West Side Highway in New York City.
He and his pals drove over to the Apple Store to get a new phone since he had feared his was lost forever.
Sonders was unaware that his iPhone’s accident detection had been on at the moment, notifying emergency authorities and sending his mother and girlfriend automatic texts.
I was in a panic. The boyfriend of Sonders, Gabrielle Kennedy, said, “I was anticipating the worst.”
She continued, “My best friend was killed in a car accident.” “It transported me instantly back there.”
Douglas, please get back to me as soon as you can! His mother even left him a voicemail. Let me know whether you’re OK, please.
Marcus Nguyen heard the alarm sound on his iPhone 14 Pro at Six Flags Great America as The Joker rollercoaster came to a close.
He claimed, “I was still fastened into the ride, and I couldn’t get to it.” I was finally able to access it before to the countdown’s conclusion.
Experts are now advising owners of the iPhone 14 to put their phones away while riding a roller coaster because if they do, the sudden slowdown might trigger the crash-detection software.
The function, which is pre-enabled on new phones, may also be disabled by users.
However, it has sometimes turned out to be beneficial.
Just last week, the authorities in Lincoln, Nebraska were made aware of a horrific collision that killed all six of the vehicle’s children occupants thanks to the new crash detection technology.
Five males were found dead at the site after the black Honda Accord they were driving smashed into a tree, according to police. A 24-year-old lady was left in serious condition and eventually passed away at a nearby hospital.
One of the passengers’ iPhone 14 immediately after the collision called for help from emergency agencies.
Despite their being no other witnesses to what the police have called “the worst collision in Lincoln in recent memory,” the iPhone capability allowed first responders to be alerted to the situation.
The identity of the 22-year-old driver is unknown.
The other casualties were a guy by the name of Jonathan Koch, as well as one 21-year-old, one 23-year-old, and two 22-year-olds.
Although the exact reason of the collision is unknown, the companions were reportedly returning home at the time.