Apple Watch saves distracted driver's life with Crash Detection

AppleInsider

Racine County emergency services say a driver would not have a survived a car accident had it not been for her Apple Watch.

Car crash in Racine County, Wisconsin. (Source: Kansasville Fire and Rescue)

The crash detection feature in the Apple Watch and iPhone 14 has now often alerted emergency services to car crashes, and fortunately sometimes to saving lives as a result. It's still common enough, though, and responders in Racine County, Wisconsin report that they have had their first such Apple Watch alert.

"This was a first for us -- being dispatched to an automobile crash, as a result of an Apple Watch," Ronald Molnar, Kansasville Fire and Rescue Chief, told reporters from Fox 6 Milwaukee. "I'll summarize it like this: If it wasn't for that Apple Watch. I doubt that she [the driver] would have survived."

The incident occurred around 4am on Thursday, August 31, 2023, and the driver's Apple Watch sent a location of County Highway N (Downy Drive) and County Highway A (Plank Road) in the Town of Dover.

"We found the vehicle on its roof, approximately 100 feet off the paved roadway," said Molnar.

Molnar said that because of where the car was, the "vehicle would have likely gone undetected for several hours." It was sufficiently far away from the road that it would have been nearly impossible for drivers passing by to have seen the wreck.

The driver, a 31-year-old woman from Waterford, was unconscious. She was then airlifted to Froedtert Hospital with what are described as life-threatening injuries.

No other vehicles were involved in the incident. The accident is being investigated by the Racine County Major Crash Assistance Team and deputies say they believe the crash was caused by distracted driving.

Crash Detection in the Apple Watch and iPhone 14 uses the multiple sensors in the devices -- such as gyroscopes and accelerometers -- to detect a likely crash. As shown in an Apple video, the Watch or iPhone will then prompt the driver and should they fail to react, will contact the authorities.

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mayfly

This is the very definition of irony!
A single vehicle crash caused by distracted driving.
That likely means that the driver was texting on her Apple iPhone, which caused her to miss a turn or something, so she goes off the road and rolls at least once. Now the Apple Watch notes the crash, and tells the iPhone that caused the crash to call 911.

Using technology to mitigate the disaster caused by the technology. My brain is about to explode!

wwchris

mayfly said:

This is the very definition of irony!
A single vehicle crash caused by distracted driving.
That likely means that the driver was texting on her Apple iPhone, which caused her to miss a turn or something, so she goes off the road and rolls at least once. Now the Apple Watch notes the crash, and tells the iPhone that caused the crash to call 911.

Using technology to mitigate the disaster caused by the technology. My brain is about to explode!

Given the crash happened at 4AM I would be more inclined to believe it was drowsiness issues (no alcohol was mentioned in the story, but that would have been my first reaction) over “distracted driving”.

macgui

mayfly said:

That likely means that the driver was texting on her Apple iPhone

What bullshit. It doesn't mean that at all, that's just you implying. There is no mention of the driver was distracted. There was no evidence of impairment noted at the scene, but that doesn't mean she was distracted.

Another article said the Sheriff's Office said "may have been distracted". The only thing that means is initially they've found no impairment and may possibly be theorizing if it's not this it might be that. Maybe she was tired or maybe she was going a little too fast and maybe a turn took her by surprise.  

Who knows. I don't. You sure don't. As a guess, texting or using a phone is an option. As a conclusion, it's just a baseless allegation, but apparently those are just fine these days. 

mayfly said:

 My brain is about to explode!

Critical, objective thinking is not for the weak.

chasm

mayfly said:

Using technology to mitigate the disaster caused by the technology. My brain is about to explode!

Even if your theory is correct, the technology did NOT cause the accident. The DRIVER caused the accident.

Thinking is out of fashion these days, it would seem.

lewk

She may have been trying to change the tunes playing on her iPhone whether actually on the phone or thru CarPlay (or whatever it's called).  I know that it can be very frustrating to use CarPlay in my Subaru because it only shows a screen or two of my playlists, albums, or whatever.  It sill isn't natural for me to use Siri to select the tune and when I have tried to use Siri, it often tries finding everywhere except on my iPhone. :-\ 

Kierkegaarden

mayfly said:

This is the very definition of irony!
A single vehicle crash caused by distracted driving.
That likely means that the driver was texting on her Apple iPhone, which caused her to miss a turn or something, so she goes off the road and rolls at least once. Now the Apple Watch notes the crash, and tells the iPhone that caused the crash to call 911.

Using technology to mitigate the disaster caused by the technology. My brain is about to explode!

Distractions can come in many different ways — reaching for something in the back seat, adjusting the audio dials, adjusting the air and/or windows — basically, anything that takes your eyes focused off the road is a distraction from your job as a driver.  There could have also been alcohol or drugs involved — we just don’t know — all we read is that the driver was [allegedly] distracted.

mayfly

chasm said:

mayfly said:

Using technology to mitigate the disaster caused by the technology. My brain is about to explode!

Even if your theory is correct, the technology did NOT cause the accident. The DRIVER caused the accident.

Thinking is out of fashion these days, it would seem.

Thanks for the incivility. I'd been missing that aspect of social media.

Your argument is virtually identical to the far-right contention that guns don't kill people, people kill people.

But in the absence of the distracting tech, this accident likely would not have happened. In the absence of a gun, Uvalde would have never made headlines, and 19 children and two schoolteachers would be starting the new school year right now.

Immunity from irony and critical thinking is not commendable.

mayfly

macgui said:

mayfly said:

That likely means that the driver was texting on her Apple iPhone

What bullshit. It doesn't mean that at all, that's just you implying. There is no mention of the driver was distracted. There was no evidence of impairment noted at the scene, but that doesn't mean she was distracted.

Another article said the Sheriff's Office said "may have been distracted". The only thing that means is initially they've found no impairment and may possibly be theorizing if it's not this it might be that. Maybe she was tired or maybe she was going a little too fast and maybe a turn took her by surprise.  

Who knows. I don't. You sure don't. As a guess, texting or using a phone is an option. As a conclusion, it's just a baseless allegation, but apparently those are just fine these days. 

mayfly said:

 My brain is about to explode!

Critical, objective thinking is not for the weak.

Critical thinking and logic would concllude that law enforcement already knows whether she was on the phone at the time of the crash. All they had to do was look at her phone. Failing that, her call history is available to law enforcement from her service provider. And that's why they suspect distracted driving.

Vdog

mayfly said:

Using technology to mitigate the disaster caused by the technology. My brain is about to explode!

I was the second deputy on scene..... her phone was in her purse. It was the night of the full blue moon. We think she might have been looking at that. Early morning after working all night... Probably best to not assume.