(car engine idling)
- Crash away.
To find out if Apple's new car crash detection really works.
(car engine revving)
You just have to crash some cars.
(car engine revving)
- Michael, anything?
Yes, a few weeks ago,
Apple introduced the new iPhone 14 models
and Apple watches with,
(car banging)
(car alarm beeping) crash detection.
[Commercial Narrator] Apple Watch Series 8 can detect
if you were in a severe car crash.
When a crash is detected,
it will automatically connect you with emergency services.
- [Joanna] Apple's feature comes three years after
Google added it to its Pixel phones.
Now, the hope is that none of us ever have to rely
on this tech to save our lives,
but that's all the more reason we wanna know:
does it actually work?
And what sort of crashes does it work in?
(car banging)
(car engine revving)
And that's why we came out here,
to the fields and junkyards of Monroe Michigan,
which also happens to be home
to some world class derby drivers.
And the hometown of my producer, Kenny.
- [Kenny] It's not Mon-roe.
- Oh, say it again.
- [Kenny] Mun-roe.
- Monroe.
After I failed to trigger
the crash detection alert in bumper cars.
(banging car)
- Nothing detected.
- We decided to find someone who bumps real cars.
- I'm Michael Berry
and I'm a three time figure eight derby champ.
- [Joanna] Yep. Michael competes in what are called
Figure Eight Derbys.
(engine revving)
His car, consisting of a sturdy steel frame,
and not much else, is designed to withstand tough crashes.
So he offered to do a series of crashes
for us with phones and watches on board.
How does that feel?
- Good.
- [Joanna] And RS recycling offered up
two soon to be shredded cars to crash into.
(beeping)
- Please do not do this at home.
We took a lot of precautions to make sure
this was done safely.
Michael is wearing a four point harness,
and a helmet.
We also had Nicole Branham,
a certified EMT standing by in case anything were to happen.
And of course, during all crashes
everyone but the driver stood at a safe distance.
I'm hiding from the crash.
Tell me when it happens.
Okay, let's see if this works.
Here's how I set up this not exactly scientific test.
Michael is driving his derby car
with an Apple watch ultra on his wrist
and an iPhone 14 and a Google Pixel strapped in next to him.
The Ford Taurus has an iPhone 14 Pro Max
and a Pixel six mounted to its dashboard vents.
On the new iPhones and Apple watches
crash detection is enabled out of the box.
On Google's pixel phones, however
you have to turn it on in the personal safety app.
Okay, here we go.
(engine revving)
(cars crashing)
Crash detection?
So tell us what happens.
- First thing we looked at the watch.
Nothing. Nothing.
It probably was like a five to ten second delay.
It then popped up.
Would you like to contact emergency services?
- [Joanna] Michael tapped the cancel button here,
but had he not, the watch would've initiated
a ten second countdown before calling emergency services.
Apple designed the feature so if you're wearing the watch
paired to an iPhone, the watch will display the alert
as it will likely remain on a person when a crash occurs.
The pixel in Michael's car didn't trigger
and the phones in the Taurus didn't either.
So how does this technology work?
The new iPhone models, along with the watch Series Eight
and Ultra have a three access gyroscope
and a high G4 accelerometer
which samples motion at over 3000 times a second.
It means that when a car is going really fast
and then abruptly stops or slows down
it's able to sense the precise moment of impact,
or the change in that motion.
The sensors and algorithms look for other things too
including a change in pressure when airbags deploy
when windows are closed.
And the microphones can measure sound levels.
So it makes sense that Michael's car, which was moving
at approximately 25 miles per hour, triggered the alert.
But what about the phones in the Taurus?
So we tried again,
(cars crashing)
and again.
(cars crashing)
On the second crash, the Pixel in Michael's car
triggered an alert.
It says, I'm okay or call 911.
But the pixel and the iPhone
in the Taurus never went off.
It's a bummer, especially
if someone was actually in this car.
Which brings us to car number two.
So this is gonna do it.
The windows go up and it will drive.
See, I figured that there were a few things
off with the Taurus.
Notably that it wasn't being driven.
So the phones didn't think they were in a car.
Plus the windows were open when the airbags deployed.
This time, before the crash,
to help the phones recognize they were in a moving vehicle,
we drove the van around first.
(upbeat music playing)
Car stopped at a stop sign. Two phones are in.
There we go.
(car engine revving)
(cars crashing)
Michael's watch detected the crash.
So did mine, as I had put my iPhone in Michael's car
and was in close enough proximity for it to alert me.
(cars rumbling) (watches beeping)
But despite the airbags deploying in the Dodge...
Nothing went off. That's insane.
When I contacted Apple with the results
a company spokesman said that the testing conditions
in the junkyard didn't provide enough signals to
the iPhone to trigger the feature in the stopped cars.
It wasn't connected to Bluetooth or Car Play,
which would've indicated that the car was in use
and the vehicles might not have traveled enough distance
prior to the crash to indicate driving.
A Google spokesman said that the algorithm first
needs to detect that you're driving.
Then the feature can detect crashes,
even if the vehicle is stationary.
So what did we learn here today?
When it works, this technology could really
be lifesaving. Three times today
we could have had calls into emergency services
within 30 seconds, without anyone lifting a finger.
But from all our testing,
it's clear that there's a gray area.
Both about what the system considers to be a
severe enough crash,
and even how the system establishes that it's in a car
in the first place.
To be fair, Apple says this right in the fine print
on every iPhone.
Though it doesn't provide any specifics.
Still you may feel better knowing
that your phone or watch can do this.
Oh, and stay away from derby cars.
(engine starts)
(engine rumbling)
- You ready to drive?
- I drive like your grandma.
(all laughing)