iPhone 14 Feature Saves Man's Life After Driving Off a Cliff

A California man may owe his life to a seemingly innocuous feature on his iPhone. On July 21 at approximately 10:51 p.m., the unidentified man drove off a cliff in the Mount Wilson area of Los Angeles and plummeted nearly 400 feet before his car came to a rest. Deputies nearby were contacted—not by the man, but by an iPhone communication. 

The driver had an iPhone 14, Apple's latest phone model that comes with built-in Crash Detection. When the device senses that you've been in an accident, it gives the driver a notification with the option to call emergency services or dismiss the alert. After 20 seconds, the phone will alert emergency services automatically and send the location of where the person can be found. 

RESCUE: At 10:51pm on Fri we were alerted to a car 400’ over a cliff by the driver’s iPhone 14 crash detection. Location was Mt Wilson Rd. After locating him we guided in an @LACoFireAirOps copter. Suffered head trauma. @LASDHQ @CVLASD @KCBSKCALDesk @NBCLA @ABC7 @FOXLA @cnnbrk pic.twitter.com/jXdpuDL7Hk

— Mike Leum (@Resqman) July 22, 2023

Mike Leum, a member of Montrose Search and Rescue, told CBS Los Angeles that the man was bleeding from the head when they rescued him and that his car was totaled in the incident. If it wasn't for Crash Detection, it might not have ended well for the driver. 

"I believe that if we didn't have that good location information in a timely manner, he probably would've bled out," Leum said. "I kept telling him how lucky he was."

Steve Goldsworthy, Montrose Search and Rescue's Rescue Operations Leader, felt the same way. "He was 400 feet down in a canyon with virtually no way out," he explained. "So, who knows when, or if, we would've located him."

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The man was especially lucky to have the newest version of the software installed on his phone. The updated tech can contact authorities via satellite rather than just calling 911 like previous versions, which proved critical as there's essentially no cell reception in the area where he crashed. 

"The location that we got from the iPhone activation was spot on," Goldsworthy said. "It was basically his phone on its own, calling for help on his behalf."

Since launching last fall, Crash Detection has been credited in at least three other near-death experiences for helping save Apple users' lives. But with today's advanced technology, shouldn't something like this come built in every car?

source https://www.mensjournal.com/news/iphone-14-crash-detection-saves-man-driving-off-cliff