The crash detection feature on iPhones, which is supposed to contact emergency services if it detects that the smartphone has been in a car accident, has been implicated in a dramatic increase in bogus emergency calls during the recent Bonnaroo Music Festival in Coffee County, Tennessee. First responders noted that false emergency calls quintupled during the festival, caused by iPhones that equated dancing with car crashes.
Apple Insider reports that during the most recent Bonnaroo Music Festival in Coffee County, Tennessee, a sharp rise in false emergency calls has been linked to the iPhone’s crash detection feature.
MANCHESTER, TENNESSEE – JUNE 18: Fans staking pictures in the rain at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on June 18, 2023 in Manchester, Tennessee. (Photo by Douglas Mason/Getty Images)
The festival, which ran from June 14 to June 18 and drew over 80,000 visitors, resulted in a five-fold increase in false 911 calls, according to Scott LeDuc, director of the Coffee County 911 Communication Center. The increase in false positives was attributed to the Crash Detection feature of the iPhone, which was ostensibly activated by festival-goers’ movements while they danced to live performances.
Apple offered to come to the county to help when contacted, but the issue was identified over the phone. Following the barrage of calls, a warning was broadcast to nearby devices instructing iPhone users to deactivate the Crash Detection feature. “It reduced the amount of calls that we were getting,” LeDuc confirmed, noting that this measure effectively halved the number of incoming calls.
Emergency services managed the situation well despite the unexpected increase of calls to five times the normal volume. “Our employees really stepped up, as first responders always do really step up in the line of duty and they did,” LeDuc said. “And we didn’t have any situation where we couldn’t help someone because of the amount of calls.”
Breitbart News previously reported on Apple’s crash detection feature calling 911 when users ride roller coasters:
The iPhone’s new Crash Detection has reportedly resulted in law enforcement being sent to amusement parks on numerous occasions after the feature was triggered by a rollercoaster’s quick turns and hard braking.
In one example, a woman at Kings Island amusement park near Cincinnati got off the Mystic Timbers roller coaster rollercoaster and found that her recently bought iPhone 14 Pro had called authorities. Her lock screen was filled with missed calls and voicemails from a 911 dispatcher asking if she was okay.
Moreover, as the automated message played for the 911 dispatcher, one can hear cheers, music, and other amusement park-related sounds in the background.
iPhone users who discover their device has unintentionally called emergency services are advised not to hang up but rather to continue the call and explain the error to the 911 operator. That way, first responders can quickly assess the call as an accident and not divert resources from true emergencies to confirm there is no actual need for help.
Read more at Apple Insider here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan