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Kyle Chua
Oct 3, 20222 min read

Fatal Car Crash in US Detected by iPhone 14’s New Feature

A car passenger's iPhone 14 automatically detected a fatal car crash using the phone's new Crash Detection feature and called responders immediately.

Credit: Apple

According to Bloomberg, authorities were alerted of a car hitting a tree early Sunday, 2 October, in Lincoln, Nebraska, killing all six young passengers. The five men in the Honda Accord all died at the scene, while the other victim, a woman, died later at the hospital. All the victims were less than 25 years old.


Police have yet to determine the cause of the crash, and because they cannot find witnesses, the investigation could take longer than normal.


“The cause of this accident is going to take us some time to pin down," said Lincoln Police Assistant Chief Michon Morrow. “We are looking at all possibilities, including alcohol, speed or distracted driving.”


The authorities did mention that the crash was reported by someone's iPhone 14, which detected the crash impact and called responders after the owner didn’t respond. This is among the first major cases where the iPhone 14 detected an actual crash.

Credit: Apple

For those unfamiliar, Apple debuted the crash detection feature this year in its latest products. The feature leverages new sensors to detect whether the user has been in a crash. If the user doesn’t respond in a set amount of time, it’ll automatically place an emergency call to responders. Siri then plays an audio message when someone answers the call, stating that the iPhone owner has been in a crash. It’ll also ping the owner’s estimated location, including relevant coordinates and a search radius.


This feature is available on all iPhone 14 models with the latest version of iOS as well as the Apple Watch Series 8, the 2nd generation Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Ultra with the latest version of watchOS.


Crash detection doesn’t need to be set up as it’s enabled by default out of the box. Those who wish to toggle it off can do so by visiting the Emergency SOS tab under their device’s Settings.

 

  • A car passenger's iPhone 14 automatically detected a fatal crash and called responders immediately.

  • Responders were reportedly alerted of a car hitting a tree in Lincoln, Nebraska, killing all six young passengers.

  • Police have yet to determine the cause of the crash.

  • This is among the first major cases where the iPhone 14 detected an actual crash.

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