Lifesaving iPhone 14 feature lauded after locating car crash victim

(Image credit: iMore / Stephen Warwick)

An Apple device has once again been credited with helping to save a life, although this time it wasn't an Apple Watch as is so often the case. In this instance it was the iPhone 14 and its Crash Detection feature that has been lauded for its lifesaving abilities.

According to reports, a young musician's family has credited her iPhone with helping to save her life after she was involved in a car crash in Canada.

Thanks to Crash Detection, first responders were able to quickly locate the woman and the car she had been traveling in before taking her to the hospital.

iPhone to the rescue

A local news report says that the woman "sustained serious injuries including broken femurs and pelvis, cranial and cervical spine fractures, as well as multiple lacerations and substantial blood loss requiring transfusions." She was still in critical condition as of August 10, with the car damaged beyond repair.

"Hannah Ralph, 21, of Burlington, was instantly located after a serious car accident between Markdale and Flesherton thanks to Crash Detection, a feature of her iPhone 14," the report reads. "Using this technology, her iPhone automatically placed a call to first responders and her emergency contacts when it detected the collision last Saturday, August 5 on Road 130 southwest of Highway 10."

Apple's Crash Detection feature isn't only available on its best iPhones like the iPhone 14 Pro, thankfully. The lifesaving feature is available on the base iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus models as well, while the Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE 2, and Apple Watch Ultra also offer it.

Crash Detection can automatically call for help if an iPhone or Apple Watch detects an accident, and can hear multiple types of crashes involving different kinds of passenger vehicles. Accidents detected include front-impact, side-impact, and rear-end collisions, and rollovers.

It's possible Apple may build on this with more safety features with iPhone 15, expected in September.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.