Crash Detection

Crash Detection is an Apple Watch and iPhone feature that automatically places an emergency service call when it detects that the device owner has been in a serious collision.

Introduction

Apple, Inc. introduced Crash Detection on the Apple Watch Series 8, Ultra, and second-generation SE and the iPhone 14 series at an event on September 7, 2022. This came three years later than Google, who had introduced the Car Crash Detection feature on its Pixel 3 smartphone in 2019. The company credits the watch's enhanced gyroscope and accelerometer for making the feature possible, and it also uses data from the watch's barometer, satellite navigation, and microphone features to detect a crash. The feature was inspired by past success with Apple's Fall Detection and atrial fibrillation (AFib) detection in the Apple Watch, two executives told Tech-Crunch, noting that Crash Detection uses multiple inputs to avoid falsely triggering when, for example, an owner accidentally drops their device. In a later interview, Apple head of software Craig Ham said he was "amazed [by] how many letters we got, within days [of Crash Detection's release], from people who had been in car crashes", some of whom said it saved their lives.

Successful uses

In October 2022, a man credited Crash Detection for saving his life by automatically calling emergency services after his tire blew out while he was driving 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) and he crashed into a telephone pole. In a post on Reddit, the crash victim thanked Tim Cook and Apple for having developed the feature. Cook responded hours later, wishing the crash victim well and explaining that the feature was built for incidents like this.