Skiers are accidentally triggering the Crash Detection feature built into the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro causing the devices to dial emergency services, says Utah news site KSL.
Although the new feature was designed to summon help when a car crash is detected, Summit County dispatchers in Utah have seen an increase in accidental 911 calls from skiers. Three to five emergency calls from Apple devices are coming in per day, and so far, none have been activated on purpose.
“We will get a call in that says the owner of this Apple Watch or iPhone has either had a severe crash or they’ve been involved in a car accident,” Summit County Dispatch Center supervisor Suzie Butterfield told KSL.
With many of the activations, people don’t respond at first because they are unaware that the call was placed. “They’re usually like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I was skiing. Everything’s fine,'” said Butterfield.
As noted by MacRumors, Reddit users have confirmed that skiing can trigger the Crash Detection feature, with one user explaining that he was going down a hill at a moderate pace when his Apple Watch started to dial 911.
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.
The Apple Watch Series 8, the latest Apple Watch SE, and the Apple Watch Ultra also have a fall detection feature.
Butterfield said that she does not recommend turning the iPhone and Apple Watch safety features off. “We don’t mind taking that call because if something really did happen, we want to be able to get to you,” she said.