A woman has credited her iPhone with saving her life after it automatically called emergency services when her car left the road and careered 330 feet down a mountainside.
The woman lost control of her vehicle on a winding road in scenic Denbighshire, UK. It then rolled down the hill before bursting into flames moments after she was able to escape.
Emergency services arrived at the scene 20 minutes later, including a mountain rescue team and firefighters. Both had been alerted to the accident by the woman's iPhone and its automatic Crash Detection feature.
"I'm grateful to Apple for what the iPhone did," the woman told the BBC. "I don't think that I would have been able to get help that quickly."
Unfortunately, the rescue was just the beginning of a long road to recovery. The driver spent four months in the hospital and required multiple surgeries as a result of the crash. She was left with life-changing damage to her ankle and her spine.
iPhone to the rescue
Crash Detection is a feature built into all modern iPhones and Apple Watches, and has been saving lives for years. It was first introduced alongside the iPhone 14, Apple Watch Series 8, and Apple Watch Ultra.
The feature uses sensors to detect severe car crashes and then sounds an alarm and displays an on-screen alert for 10 seconds. If the alert is not dismissed, Crash Detection automatically places a call to emergency services.
What makes the feature so vital is its ability to send first responders right to the crash site. Crash Detection shares the device's location and the device owner's Medical ID if one has been set up.
Crash Detection has proven to be particularly important in crashes where the driver has been rendered unconscious. In these instances, Crash Detection has been able to summon emergency services long before they might otherwise be called.
