Does your vehicle have a feature to call authorities when you’re in a crash? Crash detection technology is extremely important and is being offered in a new way.
For a long time, GM vehicles equipped with OnStar telematics have included a feature to notify emergency services when the vehicle is in a crash. Not all vehicles come with this technology, which makes the new development even more important than ever. New iPhone and Apple Watches are adding this feature to the technology included in them. This could make a huge difference in your driving experience.
Many People Upgrade Their Phones Regularly
It’s not a secret that whenever a new iPhone enters the market, people flock to Apple stores to buy the latest gadget. Most of the time, these new devices don’t offer much for drivers and don’t include features that could make your experience on the road better, but that’s not the case this time. The latest version of the Apple iPhone, the upcoming iPhone 14, will alert authorities if you’re in a crash. This could be a life-saving feature and something that should have been included much sooner.
Does the New Apple Watch do this as Well?
We live in a world where our smartphones are connected to every aspect of our lives. This isn’t only true of the phones themselves but also the smart watches we use every day. These watches are excellent companions to the phones with many of the same functions. The latest version of the Apple Watch, the Series 8 model, brings the functionality of crash detection to the market. This makes it even easier for authorities to be alerted when you’ve been in an accident. Sometimes you can’t alert emergency services and need a little help.
How Does a Vehicle Detect a Crash?
Your car has many features to detect a crash and use the telematics system to alert emergency services. The same sensors that activate the airbags can also engage the alert system. The GPS system built into the telematics allows authorities to know your location and find you when you’ve been in a crash and cannot alert them yourself. This helpful system is easy to understand, but it might be a little more difficult to figure out how your phone or watch will alert the emergency personnel to come to your aid.
Your Phone Has Some of the Same Functions As Your Vehicle?
Even though your smartphone or watch won’t alert emergency responders via pressure sensors from the bumpers or crash zones of your car, these devices can do something else. The crash detection system of your smartphone uses a dual-core accelerometer with a high-G sensor to detect whether or not you’ve been in a crash. In simpler terms, if you’re traveling at driving speed and suddenly slow to a stop, your phone or watch thinks you’ve been in a crash and will begin to alert emergency services to come and help you.
Extensive Testing Went Into this Technology
Will your new iPhone or Apple Watch alert emergency personnel when you’ve had a hard bump and not a crash? Thankfully, Apple put this technology through years of research and more than one billion hours of crash and driving testing and data to ensure these devices understand the difference between an impact and a hard bump. This means you won’t accidentally alert emergency services when you’ve hit a pothole or drive over a speed bump too quickly. This is good news because we don’t need 911 operators receiving a slew of unnecessary calls.
Does this Technology Work for All Vehicles?
This new crash detection system for your iPhone and Apple Watch could have widespread benefits for all types of vehicles. What happens if you have a tumble while biking on some mountain trails? What if you’re in a motorcycle accident? Unfortunately, these two-wheeled vehicles aren’t part o the crash profile programmed into the system yet. The profile for automatic emergency services alerts is only intended for four-wheeled vehicles with a specified mass, G-force, and speed changes that are consistent with life-threatening crashes in a car. If you’re on a bike or motorcycle, you might want to have a partner with you to help you if a crash occurs.
Do You need to be Connected to the Car for This System to Work?
No, you don’t have to be connected to the Apple CarPlay system or Bluetooth for the system to work. This can be helpful when you get into a car with friends, and they end up in a crash. The system detects your speed of travel to understand that you’re going fast enough for this system to be helpful while you’re out on the road. If you drive an older vehicle, this is one way to have a modern feature at your disposal.
How Quickly Does the System Alert Emergency Responders?
When the crash detection system is activated on your iPhone or Apple Watch, your device offers a ten-second countdown before it will send the alert to the 911 operator. If you don’t cancel the call during those ten seconds, the call is being sent along with your location. This is extremely helpful in a scenario where you can’t communicate or can’t reach your phone or watch to make the call yourself. If the call isn’t required, you can cancel the alert and avoid sending an unnecessary 911 call.
Is it Time for a New iPhone or Apple Watch?
Most of us don’t need an excuse to buy a new device but knowing that the new iPhone 14 and Apple Watch Series 8 have crash detection technology, which is an excellent reason to head to your local Apple Store and buy one of these devices. Not all vehicles that you’ll get into will have this feature, but if you have it on your person, you’ll always have it with you. Imagine the peace of mind that comes with carrying this feature in your pocket or on your wrist every day.
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