iPhone14 Auto Crash Detection Put to the Test

Crash Detection is one of the most notable new features of the iPhone 14 lineup and the new Apple Watch models. This feature detects when you've been in a car accident and uses Emergency SOS to notify first responders and your emergency contacts.

Source: 9to5Mac | Published on September 30, 2022

Auto accidents

A new video released today puts the iPhone 14's Crash Detection through several tests, with mixed results. The video from YouTubers Luke Miani and Sam Kohl takes things to the next level by testing Crash Detection with four different cars multiple times. The video shows testing collisions with the cars' front, sides, and rear. There's even a rollover crash to put the feature to the test.

The results of these tests, however, are particularly intriguing: none of Sam and Luke's crashes activated the Crash Detection feature. Regardless of the severity of the crash, the iPhone 14's Emergency SOS feature never appeared.

As a reminder, Apple says Crash Detection on the iPhone 14 should work as follows:

When your iPhone detects a serious car accident, it will display an alert and, unless you cancel, will automatically initiate an emergency phone call after 20 seconds. If you don't respond, your iPhone will play an audio message for emergency services, informing them that you've been in a serious accident and providing them with your latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates as well as an approximate search radius.

When a crash is detected, Crash Detection will not override any previously placed emergency calls.

More than anything, these early tests show that Crash Detection results can vary for a variety of reasons, and it's always a good idea to have multiple safety nets in place in case of an accident. We also anticipate that Apple will continue to improve the feature as it gathers more data from real-world examples of the feature in action.