Skiers Accidentally Triggering iPhone's Crash Detection Feature

According to Utah news site KSL, skiers are accidentally calling emergency services because of the Crash Detection feature in the new Apple Watches.

The Crash Detection feature can be used at ski resorts to summon help when a car crash is detected.

"We will get a call in that says the owner of this Apple Watch or iPhone has had a severe crash or they've been involved in a car accident," Butterfield said.

People don't respond at first because they don't know that the call was made. They usually say, 'Oh, I was skiing.' Butterfield said everything was fine.

There are at least three to five emergency calls per day from Apple devices. Butterfield doesn't mind accidental calls because they can be useful in an emergency situation.

The Crash Detection feature can be triggered by skiing, with one user saying that he was going down a hill at a moderate pace when his Apple watch started to dial.

You might want to turn off crash detection on your iPhone 14 if you ski with any kind of pace at all. I was out yesterday for the first time. I had my phone in my pocket and was cruising down Tinkerbell at a totally moderate pace doing some short-radius turns on my second run of the year. To give you an idea of how moderate, I had just passed a slow sign with 3 safety patrol by it and none of them even raised an eyebrow at me! I stopped to wait for my wife and my phone immediately started yelling "Have you been in an accident? We will call emergency services in 20 seconds! Woop! Woop!" I turned it off as quickly as possible and then immediately turned off all the emergency notification functions.

There is a fall detection feature on a range of Apple devices that could potentially result in emergency calls.

Butterfield doesn't think it's a good idea to turn off the safety features on the Apple Watches. She said that they don't mind taking that call because they want to get to you.

The Crash Detection feature in the new iPhone and Apple Watch models has also been triggered by rollercoasters. It's not clear what this means, but it's likely to cut down on accidental triggering where there has not been a car accident.

Justiny, thanks for your kind words.