Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution/Apple
The Crash Detection technology bundled with the iPhone 14 saved a young musician's life after a horrible crash in Grey Highlands, Canada.
21-year-old Hannah Ralph suffered serious injuries, including cranial and cervical spine fractures, broken femurs and pelvis, blood loss, and multiple lacerations after losing control of the steering wheel on Road 130 southeast of Highway 10.
The severe crash happened in an area with forests and farmed property, but no other motorists noticed the collision.
Fortunately for the young musician, her iPhone 14 detected the collision and called the first responders while alerting her emergency contact. Grace Workman-Porecki, who received an automatic notification from the girl's iPhone, says she managed to contact the first responders, who were pointed precisely to the location of the crash.
The iPhone provided the data, which forwarded the coordinates to the operators, then pinpointed the location on the map for the first responders.
Shortly after the paramedics arrived, an air ambulance picked up the victim and transported her to Markdale Hospital.
The girl is still in critical condition at the time of writing, having suffered multiple surgeries.
Apple's iPhone Crash Detection works by determining whether you've been involved in a crash using the phone's sensors, including the accelerometer and the gyroscope. If the analysis detects a potential collision, the iPhone displays a prompt, asking the owner to respond to confirm they suffered no injuries. The prompt also includes a timer, and if the owner fails to offer a response, the smartphone automatically calls the local emergency number to transmit the location coordinates.
The device can also alert the emergency contact configured in the Health app on the iPhone with similar information, warning them the smartphone owner might have been involved in a crash. The feature is available on new-generation iPhones (iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro) and the latest Apple Watch models (Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra). It will certainly be expanded to the next iPhone lineup, due to launch in September.
While Crash Detection can sometimes prove a life-saving technology, it doesn't always work as reliably as in this case. In some cases, the feature calls emergency services for the wrong reason – users wearing an Apple Watch while skiing or riding a rollercoaster claimed the smartwatch triggered the Crash Detection system, eventually dialing 911 without them realizing. The first responders also confirm the feature can save lives but admit that it sometimes causes an overwhelming number of false calls.
Authorities explain that Apple customers whose devices mistakenly call emergency services shouldn't hang up on them but remain on the phone and talk to the operator. If they end the call, the operator will try to call them, eventually keeping more resources busy.
The severe crash happened in an area with forests and farmed property, but no other motorists noticed the collision.
Fortunately for the young musician, her iPhone 14 detected the collision and called the first responders while alerting her emergency contact. Grace Workman-Porecki, who received an automatic notification from the girl's iPhone, says she managed to contact the first responders, who were pointed precisely to the location of the crash.
The iPhone provided the data, which forwarded the coordinates to the operators, then pinpointed the location on the map for the first responders.
Shortly after the paramedics arrived, an air ambulance picked up the victim and transported her to Markdale Hospital.
The girl is still in critical condition at the time of writing, having suffered multiple surgeries.
Apple's iPhone Crash Detection works by determining whether you've been involved in a crash using the phone's sensors, including the accelerometer and the gyroscope. If the analysis detects a potential collision, the iPhone displays a prompt, asking the owner to respond to confirm they suffered no injuries. The prompt also includes a timer, and if the owner fails to offer a response, the smartphone automatically calls the local emergency number to transmit the location coordinates.
The device can also alert the emergency contact configured in the Health app on the iPhone with similar information, warning them the smartphone owner might have been involved in a crash. The feature is available on new-generation iPhones (iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro) and the latest Apple Watch models (Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra). It will certainly be expanded to the next iPhone lineup, due to launch in September.
While Crash Detection can sometimes prove a life-saving technology, it doesn't always work as reliably as in this case. In some cases, the feature calls emergency services for the wrong reason – users wearing an Apple Watch while skiing or riding a rollercoaster claimed the smartwatch triggered the Crash Detection system, eventually dialing 911 without them realizing. The first responders also confirm the feature can save lives but admit that it sometimes causes an overwhelming number of false calls.
Authorities explain that Apple customers whose devices mistakenly call emergency services shouldn't hang up on them but remain on the phone and talk to the operator. If they end the call, the operator will try to call them, eventually keeping more resources busy.
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