So DH was in a car accident last week (he is fine, pretty much. The car not so much). I was out on my own running an errand when I got a text that said “Crash Detected SOS. MrSurfCity called emergency services from this location after iPhone detected a crash” and included a map with a pin dropped at the accident site.
I about had a heart attack until I could call and hear his voice. I had no idea this was even a thing . . .but it turns out certain models of iPhones and watches can detect a crash and notify your emergency contacts. So it called 3 or 4 of his contacts, who then all called me in a panic.
When he was hit, the impact triggered his phone and it automatically asked him if he was in an accident. Then it called 911 and relayed his location to the police.
I just wanted to mention this in case folks had not known about this service. He had certain friends in his emergency contacts who are doctors or lawyers that he would want “on call” for things, but he didn’t necessarily want them to be called for something like this LOL.
You can set up all of this in your iPhone. And do read all the options as I think you can call 911 silently from your phone by holding down the on/off button or something (and that also notifies your emergency contacts).
In hindsight, I suppose this is a good feature to have if someone is incapacitated. I just would like to have known about it before getting that text out of the blue!
Thanks for sharing! A friend was in England with his daughter at a pub last year. He went downstairs to find a bathroom and fainted (he does this occasionally). His iPhone called his emergency contacts and the UK equivalent of 911. Pretty amazing.
Not a phone, by kid was shocked to hear a person talking to her over her car speaker seconds after her car was hit from behind by an inattentive driver. Onstar system works! The Onstar person guided kid and advised on what to do after confirming she was not injured.
Lots of recent cars also have automatic crash notification:
Google Pixel phones also have car crash detection and emergency notification, though other Android phones apparently do not.
Phone based car crash detection and emergency notification may be helpful when driving or riding as a passenger in a car that does not have that, or if the crash damage prevents the car’s crash notification from working.
Iphone can also contact 911 even if there’s no cell service in the area using satellite service. There was an incident in California a couple of years ago where there was no cell service. The phone called 911 not sure if it called emergency contacts. I thought it calls only if there’s no response.
My FIL left his phone on top of his car at the bottom of his long driveway. When he got up to his house he realized what he had done. He drove back down and was shocked to see the the highway patrol and fire department. My husband and my mil both got notified he had an emergency.
My sister fell while getting her mail. Mailbox on the street which is sloped.She has Parkinson’s and couldn’t get up. Her watch asked her if she needed assistance and the watch called for assistance.
It’s pretty interesting how much research they did to make sure the phone can distinguish between a car crash and you just dropping it. It considers whether CarPlay is enabled, the speed it was moving prior to “crash” and so forth.
My husband could not find his phone immediately but he was able to talk to the 911 operator thru the speakerphone. I think if it is a mistake, the phone has a screen to decline emergency services.
In any event, I’d make sure your emergency contacts know this is a possibility!
You know, I think it’s interesting that iPhones, which are ubiquitous, seem to be playing catch up with Pixels. Between this crash detection three years earlier, and the far better camera, and loads of other great features, Pixels, to me, are a great bargain at half the price. (But I’m just not an Apple person; i get it that people get used to one ecosystem).
I was walking my dog one day a few years and had my phone in an armband (hated those but had no pockets at the time). I was listening to an audiobook and wanted to change the volume. I didn’t feel like stopping and couldn’t see what I was doing b/c of the placement of the armband so I was trying to adjust the volume w/o looking. I thought I was pressing the correct side buttons for volume but then next thing I know I’m talking to a 911 operator asking me what my emergency is!
It took me a minute to figure out what was going on (I hung up the first time so they called me back!). After apologizing, and stopping to take the armband off to get to my phone, I see a notification that my emergency contacts had been alerted (DH and two of my kids). Oh geez! All b/c I was trying to adjust the volume on my phone.
That was the last time I used the armband and have since replaced my leggings with those that have pockets on the leg.