Bizarre! iPhone 14 crash detection feature causes chaos at Bonaroo music festival

The iPhone 14 Crash Detection feature created chaos at the Bonaroo music festival.

A huge number of accidental 911 calls were made by iPhone 14 crash detection feature (REUTERS)

The Apple iPhone 14 crash detection feature is back in the spotlight again and this time for the wrong reasons. It so transpired that, during the first day of the Bonaroo Music and art festival, iPhone 14 users made multiple 911 emergency calls by accident and it created total chaos for a county in Tennessee.

The new Apple iPhone 14 emergency feature was rolled out last year and it is called “crash detection feature”. This is an automatic feature in the phone that alerts authorities if the owner has been in a crash and is unable to operate the phone due to injuries.

However, during the festival, the iPhone made false emergency calls when owners were dancing!

According to the Director of Coffee County 911 Communication Center Scott LeDuc, In comparison to the average number of 911 calls, five times as many false calls were made. “Our employees really stepped up, as first responders always do really step up in the line of duty and they did,” LeDuc said.

In effect, the number of false calls were so many that it put in danger those who may have actually needed emergency help elsewhere in the county as the authorities had no one left to spare for them.

To stop the mayhem created, an alert was sent to the iPhone users to disable the crash detection feature. While that was a drastic step, it was deemed necessary to ensure these false calls did not recur.

About iPhone's new crash detection feature

The new emergency feature was rolled out in 2022 on devices such as iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, and also the Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE, and Apple Watch Ultra. The feature activates when the user is unable to send SOS in case of an emergency.

According to Apple, the owner's phone or watch will automatically call emergency services after a 20-second delay If you're unable to respond.

So, even if the iPhone glitch created chaos, the notable part about the entire issue was the laudable role of the authorities. They attended to each and every call to make sure there was no one actually injured who may require help. In fact, each and every caller was located in this effort.