It can be argued that when it comes to new car launches these days, most of which are electric cars, perhaps one of the most talked about aspects of the said car is usually the technology and the features that it comes with. And while this is surely different from how it used to be a decade or so ago, it is no surprise that the automotive industry has headed in this direction.

Today, almost everything in our lives is connected to the internet, is “smart”, and our primary device to control all of these features is our smartphone. Similarly, when it comes to modern cars, almost all segments have offerings that come with some sort of connectivity, either directly through an in-built e-sim or indirectly through our smartphone, and all of those functionalities are controlled through a screen placed on the dashboard.

And as our smartphones become increasingly important by the day, automakers are working hard toward making your smartphone and your car an extension of each other. The same works the other way around as well as tech companies are working towards incorporating features that can be an extension and add more functionality to the car you drive.

As part of this, Apple recently announced that their latest iPhone 14 series of smartphones will come with car crash detection technology. And it has been put to the test exactly how you would expect it to be tested - in a crash by the bold dudes at TechRax.

Apple iPhone 14 Crash Detection Test

Before we get to how the technology works, let’s talk about what exactly happens during the test. In order to test out the Apple iPhone 14’s crash detection feature, YouTube channel TechRax got their hands on an old Mercury Grand Marquis to use as the test car and decided to crash it into a bunch of old, already wrecked, burnt cars seen lying in a field.

While this provides them with a safe area to conduct this test, the challenge of who will drive the car and crash it was dealt with a genius rig consisting of an electric skateboard so that they can control the car’s acceleration remotely. As for keeping the car true, the seatbelt was tied around the steering wheel.

But while they control the car’s gas pedal and the steering wheel, they seemingly have no control over the car’s brakes and have to wait for it to stop naturally.

iPhone 14 Pro crash test by TechRax
TechRax Via YouTube

As for the iPhone 14, or the iPhone 14 Pro to be specific, they keep it on the dash for their first crash. And speaking of the crash, their first attempt at crashing the car was rather mellow. The car crashes into the burnt-out car and pretty much drives through it with scratches to the front.

So then, multiple crashed cars are put together to form a bigger obstacle and this time, the iPhone 14 Pro is taped to the back of the driver-side headrest. The crash takes place successfully and while at first, it seems like the phone did not detect a crash, it eventually does and starts calling the emergency response number.

Lastly, a third, bigger crash is conducted and this time too, the iPhone detects the crash and starts making an emergency call. Test complete, the iPhone 14 crash detection feature works as advised.

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Apple’s Crash Detection Technology Explained

The iPhone maker launched the crash detection feature with the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen), Apple Watch Series 8, and the Apple Watch Ultra - all of which are part of their recent launch. Apple says that crash detection is switched on by default and no setup is required for the same.

The idea for this feature is that if you are involved in a severe crash and are unresponsive, the iPhone will make a call to emergency services and relay your coordinates to them so that you can receive help as soon as possible.

How it works is that these devices use a high dynamic range gyroscope, barometer, accelerometer, GPS, microphone, and advanced motion algorithms to detect severe crashes. These include front impacts, side impacts, rear-end collisions, and rollovers.

Once it detects a crash, the device will give you a prompt and will go on to do a 10-second countdown post which, the phone will make the call to emergency services and play a recorded emergency message including the estimated location coordinates of the crash.

The device will also notify the emergency contacts set by the user about the crash and if the user has configured their medical ID, the device will be able to show that information as well which can come in handy for emergency service respondents or anyone nearby looking for your information.

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The Future Of Car Safety Features

Apple-Crash-Detection-Feature-Display
Via: Apple

Cars of today are undoubtedly becoming safer and with efforts like these, the biggest beneficiary is the end user. And as is with all things Apple, them including this feature will start a domino effect in the smartphone industry with other phone makers and smartwatch makers rushing to include a crash detection feature in their devices.

While this technology in itself is certainly impressive, we cannot wait to see where this integration of a smartphone and a car leads to and just how safer it gets.

Sources: YouTube/TechRax, Apple