Apple Watch gets help for victims of incredibly violent car crash

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in Apple Watch edited January 31

Five people had to be rescued from a car after it collided head-on with a palm tree, triggering the Crash Detection feature in a passenger's Apple Watch.

A severely damaged white car wrapped around a palm tree at night.
Car crash in San Bernardino county. (Source: OnScene.TV via KTLA)



Apple's addition of a Crash Detection feature in Apple Watch has been criticized for false alerts, but it's also repeatedly saved lives. Now the California Highway Patrol (CHP) credits it with how officers were quickly able to locate a crashed car and take the injured occupants to hospital.

According to KTLA, a single Hyundai Sonata with five occupants, crashed into a palm tree on the 15 Freeway at Jurupa Avenue in Ontario, San Bernardino. The car contained five occupants, and it was the Apple Watch belonging to one of the passengers that alerted local authorities.

"When officers arrived, they found a single vehicle into a tree," a CHP spokesperson told KTLA, "[with] five parties trapped."

Two of the people in the car were taken to hospital, one in what was described as minor condition, and one in moderate condition.

The incident occurred shortly before 2 A.M. Pacific on Tuesday, January 30, 2024.

Apple introduced Crash Detection in 2022, with the iPhone 14 and Apple Watch Series 8. It works through a combination of sensors in both the iPhone and the Apple Watch.

It's because the sensors include an accelerometer that sudden stops can trigger false alarms. This is why riders on rollercoasters have been particularly prone to false positives.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    lowededwookielowededwookie Posts: 1,143member
    I think props should also be given to the Hyundai. If that photo is the actual car and the worst injury is considered “moderate” then that car has done well to redirect forces.
    muthuk_vanalingamgilly33
  • Reply 2 of 3
    gilly33gilly33 Posts: 434member
    lowededwookie said:
    I think props should also be given to the Hyundai. If that photo is the actual car and the worst injury is considered “moderate” then that car has done well to redirect forces.
    Nice observation. I imagine like you I was expecting worse looking at that photo. 
  • Reply 3 of 3
    RespiteRespite Posts: 111member
    Do you “collide with” a palm tree?  Seems to me that you “crash into” stationary objects. 
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