New York (WWNY) – An iPhone safety feature can call 911 if it detects a crash, but in Jefferson County, only around 20% of those calls are real, according to local officials
Bob Simpson, with the Adams Fire Department, said the feature can create complications for first responders.
“The issue we have, and I think it’s the same as any other agency, is, when you drop an iPhone, or it falls, or it’s in a crash, the phone calls 911, and the phone line is open,” Simpson said.
When that happens, first responders are automatically dispatched to the scene unless the caller tells the dispatcher it is not an emergency. Officials said many people hang up instead.
Penny Luiz, a 911 manager, said the false alerts take a toll on resources.
“It is a drain on resources. Obviously, sending out responders that don’t need to be out there, and this could happen even more in the wintertime, when we’re sending all these people out on the roads, when they don’t need to be there, in bad conditions,” Luiz said.
Data from Jefferson County 911 Dispatch shows that over the last two months, 43 iPhone crash alerts came in. Eight were real emergencies.
Simpson said the technology has value despite the false alarms.
“It’s a good feature. It’s saved lives. I’m sure there’s people that have been in bad situations that are very happy that their phone made the call for them. So it’s a good feature, it’s a good thing, it just needs to be done correctly,” Simpson said.
Simpson said one of the most common occurrences is people leaving their phone on the roof of their car, shutting the door, and driving away. If the phone falls into the street and 911 is automatically called, there is no one to answer the phone.
Luiz said phone crash notifications have also come from other sources.
“We had a few phone calls that came in, crash notifications, that came in from jet skis. I can only assume that a snowmobile would have the same result, because the phone is bouncing all over the place,” Luiz said.
iPhones have a feature to toggle off automatic emergency alerts, but all new phones come with the setting automatically turned on.
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