Apple iPhone 14 Car Crash Detection Still Sends False 911 Calls Despite iOS 16.2 Update

Apple iPhone 14's car crash detection feature still makes false 911 calls to authorities despite the refinements that the iOS 16.2 brought.

It appears that the crash feature on iPhones still gets triggered by skiing, roller coasters, and similar activities of users. It turns out to be a misunderstanding instead of an actual accident.

(Photo : Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Employees stand in an Apple retail store in Grand Central Terminal, January 3, 2019 in New York City. U.S. stocks dropped again on Thursday after Apple warned that its first-quarter sales would be less than expected.

Apple iPhone 14 Car Crash Detection False Alarms Continue

As per the latest report by Apple Insider, the iPhone 14 car crash detection feature is getting triggered by skiers in Colorado, calling 911 services without any untoward accidents.

Apple Insider reports that none of these automated 911 calls at the Summit County 911 Center had an actual emergency. Instead, all of them are false alarms from the iPhones of skiers in the area.

But despite that, the 911 center still had to take these calls seriously, dispatching rescuers to the area.

The interim director of the 911 center in Summit County, Trina Dummer, says that dispatchers are allocating their resources with what turns out to be false alarms from the Apple crash feature.

Dummer further disclosed that "these calls involve a tremendous amount of resources, from dispatchers to deputies to ski patrollers."

The interim director went on to say, "I don't think we've ever had an actual emergency event." So it looks like most of these automated calls are false detection.

And as such, Dummer added that "they are absolutely diverting essential resources away from people who need it toward a feature on a phone."

iOS Updates: Car Crash Detection Optimization

According to a recent report by Mac Rumors, the renowned tech giant has been trying to address the false alarms on its crash detection feature.

In fact, last November, the Cupertino-based firm rolled out its iOS 16.2 update, which comes with what the tech giant touts to be "Crash Detection optimizations."

Mac Rumors notes in its report that the release notes of the update kept mum about the details of the "optimizations." So it remains to be seen if the iPhone maker fixed the false 911 calls problem.

On top of that, Apple Insider reports that the latest iOS 16.2 updates also brought refinements to the crash detection feature to further address the false alarms when riding roller coasters and other intense activities.

However, Mac Rumors highlights that the continuous influx of false alarms in the Summit Country suggests that these updates did little to fix the issue. Although there were optimizations, false alarms from skiers remain a problem.