iPhone 14 Crash Detection roller coaster rides are being triggered
Imagine getting on a roller coaster at a theme park and realizing at the end of the trip that your iPhone 14 Crash Detection roller coaster made repeated bogus calls to 911 during the ride, informing emergency services that you were involved in a serious vehicle accident.
In any case, that appears to be the case for a number of iPhone 14 Crash Detection roller coaster customers.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Crash Detection feature on the newest iPhones is being accidentally activated when its owners are experiencing the thrill of roller coasters and other exciting rides at amusement parks.
iPhone 14 Crash Detection roller coaster rides
The experience of one Sara White, a dentist who is 39 years old and rode a roller coaster at Kings Island amusement park south of Cincinnati while using her iPhone 14 Crash Detection roller coaster Pro is detailed in the report.
White took her phone with her on the ride. She was having a great time being thrown around at 50 miles per hour when her iPhone suddenly went off, notifying the authorities that she had been in a car accident. After the ride, she found that she had missed multiple calls and voicemails from emergency dispatchers who were concerned about her well-being and wanted to know whether she was all right.
You are able to listen to the call that was made to the Warren County Communications Center by her iPhone 14 Crash Detection roller coaster Pro. In the call, an automated voice informs emergency personnel that “the owner of this iPhone was in a major car crash and is not responding to their phone.”
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In addition, a crew was dispatched to the ride in order to check for any mishaps; however, the team was unable to find any urgent situations. After Ms. White discovered that the Crash Detection feature on her iPhone had been accidentally triggered, she called the emergency services again to reassure them that she was fine.
It might sound funny, but the time that emergency personnel spends dealing with something like this is time that could have been spent saving lives. A mistakenly triggered report could generate significant amounts of stress and worry for no reason at all because the Crash Detection feature on iPhones also notifies emergency contacts. These emergency contacts could be close friends or family members.
According to WSJ, this is not the only instance in which an iPhone 14 Crash Detection roller coaster made an incorrect call to emergency services while the owner of the device was, in fact, not in any immediate danger.
The Warren County Communications Center was kind enough to share the publication with recordings of six additional iPhone Crash Detection calls received from patrons of Kings Island rides. These calls were all received after the iPhone 14 Crash Detection roller coaster became available for purchase in the month of September.
The Joker roller coaster at Six Flags Great America, which is located near Chicago, has also been responsible for setting off similar alarms. Some customers also claimed that after dropping their new iPhones while driving or immediately after, the devices automatically dialed 911.
These fabricated reports of automobile collisions aren’t quite common, but they do occur from time to time anyway. When more people get their hands on Apple’s new phones, we could see an increase in the frequency of occurrences like this.
“The technology provides peace of mind, and Apple will continue to improve it over time,” the company stated in answer to questions posed by the WSJ.
