iPhone 14 alerts Emergency Calls On Roller Coaster

If Apple’s new accident detection registers serious car accidents, in particular, it will apparently also be triggered during rapid roller coaster rides. In US amusement parks, the iPhone 14 Pro and the Apple Watch have recently been increasingly alerting the emergency call.

Abrupt changes in speed, sudden changes in direction, possible changes in interior pressure, and a high noise level are not only signs of a serious car accident, but also of an (initially) fun ride on roller coasters with loopings and the like the fun stops. The reason? The new accident detection of the iPhone 14 Pro and the Apple Watch models Series 8 and Ultra.

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That Wall Street Journal reports on a case from the Kings Island amusement park in Cincinnati (Ohio), in which the crash detection function of the iPhone called the emergency number several times during the roller coaster ride and triggered the police and fire department to respond. US authorities have confirmed at least six such cases in Kings Island and others in Six Flags Great America near Chicago, Illinois.

Apple advertises that it has carried out crash tests in the laboratory, evaluated public accident data, and analyzed a million hours of real driving data in order to optimize the new accident detection and rule out errors. A roller coaster was apparently not taken into account. The most common problems regarding these special scenarios are likely to arise when the iPhone 14 Pro is in a backpack or trouser pocket while driving. Here the smartphone can make an emergency call almost unnoticed.

The Apple Watch Series 8 or Ultra on the wrist of the user should draw much better attention to the fact that an emergency call is imminent. After accident detection, a 20-second timer is started before it is automatically canceled. Owners of the new Apple iPhone 14 (Pro) and the latest Apple Watch generations should therefore either activate flight mode or temporarily disable accident detection in the settings before entering such an attraction.