The Weird Reason the iPhone 14 is Calling 911 on Roller Coasters

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It’s not exactly groundbreaking to have roller coasters make the news.

Velocicoaster

Whether it’s due to a new roller coaster opening, a massive wait time, or an unexpected closure, the theme park staple is no stranger to making headlines. However, roller coasters are currently making the news rounds for a very unexpected reason.

According to The Wall Street Journal, there have been several instances of unintended 911 calls coming from the iPhones of roller coaster riders. Specifically, these calls have been due to Apple’s new Crash Detection, which is a feature on the new iPhone 14 and newer Apple Watch models.

So, what exactly does that mean? Well, the new technology is intended to alert emergency services if a car crash is detected, triggering the iPhone or Apple Watch to make a call to 911 to report the accident. However, this feature has reportedly been set off several times after users have brought their device on a roller coaster.

Apple shares that their Crash Detection “is designed to detect severe car crashes—such as front-impact, side-impact, and rear-end collisions, and rollovers—involving sedans, minivans, SUVs, pickup trucks, and other passenger cars.”

The Incredible Hulk Coaster in Islands of Adventure

When detected, your Apple Watch or iPhone will display an alert. Once the alert goes off, you have 20-seconds to either dismiss or choose to call emergency services. If you do nothing, it will automatically call for you, which is what has happened in the cases of false alarms set off by roller coasters. You can also turn the Crash Detection feature off at any time.