iPhone 14 reacts to roller coaster ride, calls 911

Apple iPhone 14 calls 911 after confusing roller coaster ride with a crash. Here is all you need to know.

Apple iPhone 14 calls 911 while roller coaster ride. (HT Tech)

Apple's crash detection feature on iPhone 14 or Apple Watch is supposed to detect severe car crash and save the life of the users by helping them connect to emergency services. But now, the crash detection feature is reacting to roller coaster rides too, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Sara White, a 39 year old lady was on a roller coaster ride when her family when her iPhone 14 Pro detected the situation as a crash and automatically dialed 911.

"Sara White and her family headed to Kings Island amusement park outside Cincinnati. The 39-year-old dentist zipped her two-day-old iPhone 14 Pro securely in her fanny pack, buckled into the Mystic Timbers roller coaster and enjoyed getting hoisted 109 feet in the air and whipped around at over 50 mph. Afterward, she looked down at her phone. The lock screen was lined with missed calls and voice mails from an emergency dispatcher asking if she was OK," the report informed.

As per the report the call to the Warren County Communications Center featured an automated voice message from White's iPhone, "the owner of this iPhone was in a severe car crash and is not responding to their phone." The message also picked up background audio that included music, cheers, and other amusement park sounds.

Meanwhile, it can be noted that the crash detection works on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models with the latest version of iOS, Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), and Apple Watch Ultra with the latest version of watchOS.

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How Crash Detection works

According to the information provided by Apple, when your iPhone detects a severe car crash, it will display an alert and will automatically initiate an emergency phone call after 20 seconds unless you cancel.

If you are unresponsive, your iPhone will play an audio message for emergency services, which informs them that you have been in a severe crash and gives them your latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates with an approximate search radius. When a crash is detected, Crash Detection will not override any existing emergency calls placed by other means.

Also, if your iPhone has Crash Detection turned on and is connected to your vehicle through CarPlay, the Crash Detection features (dialing emergency services) will go through your iPhone. While, if you are wearing your Apple Watch at the time of the event, dialing emergency services will be placed by iPhone but Crash Detection features will be routed through Apple Watch. Here is how you can Crash Detection on or off:

How to turn Crash Detection on or off

Step 1:

Crash Detection is on by default.

Step 2:

You can turn off alerts and automatic emergency calls from Apple after a severe car crash by going to Settings.

Step 3:

You will have to then select Emergency SOS, then turn off Call After Severe Crash.

Step 4:

If you have third-party apps registered to detect crashes on your device, they will still be notified.