Although the iPhone 14 has many similarities with the iPhone 13, Apple has still included some interesting new features. In terms of user safety, the iPhone 14 has a satellite communication system (to contact emergencies if no network is available), as well as accident detection functionality. The latter uses the new sensors of the iPhone 14 series to detect car accidents, and help the user to contact the emergency services.
If Apple’s intention was good, this feature is problematic. Indeed, if it has already saved lives, it is also the source of many false positives, or false alerts. And apparently these false alarms are common in ski resorts. In a previous article, we have already discussed this problem. In Minnesota, in the United States, a local authority even asked tourists who came to ski to deactivate the Apple functionality during their stays.
The same problem in Japan
And this is not an isolated case. In Japan, firefighters mention the same problem. In a recent article, The Japan News indicates that those working near ski resorts would also struggle to deal with false alarms. And most of these false alerts are believed to come from the iPhone 14 series models. surrounding ski areas. Calls that were triggered automatically.
Typically, these alerts are triggered when a skier falls or crashes. Gujo City firefighters say 40% of the 135 emergency calls they received were false alarms. As a reminder, when iPhone 14 detects crash, it displays an alert on the screen. If there has been no accident, this alert must be deactivated by the user, otherwise the emergency services are activated automatically.
“The Accident Detection feature is designed to detect serious car accidents, including frontal, side or rear collisions, as well as rollovers, involving sedans, minivans, SUVs, pickup trucks and other vehicles tourism”, says Apple on its help page. But obviously, the system is very sensitive, given the number of false positives reported.
By: Keleops AG