The iPhone 14 Crash Detection feature alerted police immediately, getting help in minutes, following an early morning auto accident in Tasmania.
Australia’s ABC News reports that five people have been taken to hospital and four horses have died after a four-wheel drive towing a horse float crashed into a tree stump in northern Tasmania at 1:45 a.m. on Monday.
Crash Detection alerted nearby police, who were able to get to the scene within eight minutes, even though the passengers were unconscious.
Five people ranging in age from 14 to 20 were taken to the hospital, and one person with serious injuries was transported to Melbourne by air ambulance.
“In a case where people had lost consciousness in a crash like this, it is certainly something that alerts police quickly,” said Tasmania Police Inspector Ruth Orr. Officers had also already been in the area, which helped with the response time.
Apple’s iPhone 14 Crash Detection feature has already helped multiple accident victims, sometimes in conjunction with the iPhone’s Emergency SOS via Satellite function that can contact police in emergency situations where WiFi and cellular service are unavailable.
Unfortunately, Crash Detection has also triggered false positives, accidentally calling 911 when a user is skiing, riding a rollercoaster, or engaging in other physical activities that the device misinterprets as a car crash.
Car Crash Detection is available on all iPhone 14 models, as well as the Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch Ultra, and second-generation Apple Watch SE.